Gerwyn Price emerged for the fourth set of his PDC World Darts Championship quarter-final against Gabriel Clemens wearing comically large headphones.
The Welshman stunned Alexandra Palace on Sunday evening by sporting the headphones after returning from a break.
Earlier this week, 'The Iceman' claimed he'd been practicing with ear defenders. Price regularly receives boos at Ally Pally, given his polarising character.
It did give Price a temporary boost. He managed to win the leg, which saw him taunt the crowd while celebrating with a shaka sign.
Advert
The world number one then ironically cupped his hands to his ears, telling the capacity crowd he couldn't hear them.
All that did was motivate Clemens. Price ended up losing the set and the match to exit the competition at the quarter-final stage.
He did switch to smaller, less noticeable ear defenders for the final set. The perfect pantomime villain.
Price's attire quickly went viral on social media, with several fans laughing with him and at him.
One person said: "He's never coming back from this after losing."
Another tweeted: "When you’ve got darts at eight and a tree surgeon job at 10."
A third put: "This is actually hilarious I can't believe he's got them on."
While someone said: "Was he cutting down a tree during the break? What on earth is he wearing?"
Price revealed his plans to wear ear defenders after his win over Raymond van Barneveld on Tuesday.
He said: "If Raymond had been in the match better and the crowd had turned against me more, I probably still would have done it. But now it wasn't necessary.
"And by the way, it's not just about headphones, but then I put in earplugs. I first tried it at home during the Christmas break just with earplugs in, but then I still heard too much. With the headphones in, I couldn't even hear my kids anymore; then I knew it would work well."
Earlier this week, Sky Sports were forced to apologise after Price made a 'deeply inappropriate' gesture in his match with Van Barneveld.
He stuck his tongue beneath his bottom lip and placed his hands out in front of him. It was interpreted by many as an insult to disabled people.
Presenter Emma Paton subsequently issued an apology live on air during the Sky Sports broadcast.
The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) told SPORTbible: "Gerwyn has been reminded of the standards expected of him as a professional.
"He has stressed to us that it was a spontaneous gesture and he did not intend for it to cause offence. He is upset to think that anyone may think otherwise and would like to apologise sincerely for any distress he may have caused."
Topics: Darts
Daniel Marland