Featured Image Credit: @OfficialPDC/X
Topics: Darts, Saudi Arabia
Jack Kenmare
Gerwyn Price has addressed the much-talked-about atmosphere at the Saudi Arabia Darts Masters following Nathan Aspinall's "I'm not stupid" comments regarding the event.
The inaugural staging of the Riyadh Season event is currently taking place at the Global Theater in Riyadh, with eight PDC players coming up against eight Asian Tour representatives.
As we mentioned ahead of the event, organisers are offering a $200,000 (£149,400) bonus to players if they hit a nine-darter and find the bullseye with one extra dart.
Away from potential prize money and one of the big talking points has been the atmosphere, or lack of it, while the likes of Luke Littler and Nathan Aspinall throw on the Global Theater oche.
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In fact, shortly after he defeated Lourence Ilagan 6-1 this week, Aspinall claimed the crowds "weren't all there of their own accord" after being asked if the event could be the start of a long relationship between the PDC and Saudi.
“There is definitely a long way to go," he said. "It’s certainly different. I’m not stupid. I feel like they weren’t all there of their own accord, shall we say, and it was quite a small venue."
“It was different, but you know what, I enjoyed it," added Aspinall. "Whenever I looked out into the crowd, you could actually tell they were watching it.”
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The PDC has since responded to Aspinall's claims.
“Nathan was reflecting on the fact that this was a first-of-its-kind darts event in the region, with many attendees experiencing live darts for the first time," they said in a statement to Telegraph Sport.
“As with any new market, the atmosphere and crowd make-up can differ from long-established darts events such as those in the UK and Europe.
“All spectators attended as ticket holders or guests, and we were delighted to see such strong interest in the PDC’s debut in Saudi Arabia.”
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Amid talk around the atmosphere in Riyadh, former world champion Gerwyn Price was full of praise for those in attendance, who were "itching for big things to happen", according to the Welshman.
Speaking after his 6-0 win over Alexis Toylo, Price said: “They were watching and engaged in the darts. A couple of times when I walked back after my visit, I just looked out into the crowd and they were all fully focused, watching and engaged in the darts.
"Sometimes in other arenas they’re there for a good drink and a party atmosphere and sometimes they’re not even watching the darts. Here they were more involved in watching the darts.
“I think the crowd are itching for big things to happen and for them to get involved. That’s probably the reason why I went for the 170 rather than set it up."
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Price, who raced into a 3-0 lead after hitting 'The Big Fish', added: "Usually, if the opponent’s not on a short out, I set it up, but it just felt nice to try and get the crowd involved.”
Price mentioned the World Darts Championship as he discussed his experience. “I thought it was quite good,” he said on the atmosphere in Riyadh. “You could hear the individuals now and again. It felt different, but in a good way.
“People have said they don’t think it would be any good because there’s no alcohol in the crowd and the atmosphere would be no good. But I disagree. They were itching to get involved."
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"If it was a World Championship and people were hitting big scores over a longer format, giving time for the crowd to get involved, I think it would be good," he added.