Michael van Gerwen savagely mocked Gerwyn Price for wearing headphones at the World Darts Championship

Michael van Gerwen ruthlessly mocked Gerwyn Price backstage when he saw him with his ear defenders, which he wore in his defeat to Gabriel Clemens.

Price came out for the fifth set wearing headphones in an attempt to block out the boos from the Alexander Palace crowd.

But his stunt failed to work as he suffered a shock defeat to the German, who advanced to the semi-finals after winning 5-1.

Though his ear defenders dominated the talk after the quarter-final clash, with Van Gerwen poking fun at the Welshman in the lead-up to their respective games.

Gerwyn Price sports headphones during his match against Gabriel Clemens. Image: Alamy

The Dutchman, who beat Chris Dobey 5-0 on the same night, has revealed that he taunted Price backstage as they were practicing.

Speaking after beating Dobey on Sunday, he said: "His ear defenders were behind him and I only said to him: 'you don’t have the balls to put them on' and he did! I was just trying to wind him up.

"In his position, with his capability, with how big he is in darts I wouldn’t have done it, but he’s been going through a rough period and that doesn’t always make it easy.

"I bought them once, but I gave them to my daughter at the Grand Slam."

Van Gerwen also believes ear defenders shouldn't be allowed in the sport.

Asked whether players should be allowed to wear headphones on the oche, he replied: "I don’t think so, nah. It’s never been done in darts before and Gezzy doesn’t need it.

"He’s in a tough period at the minute, he’s trying to think about things, but he shouldn’t put himself in that position, but that’s darts, unfortunately."

As for Clemens, he now faces Michael Smith for a spot in the World Darts Championship final.

And he was asked about Price's bizarre on-stage antics following his big win.

On whether he was surprised by his opponent's headphones, he said: "No, the only thing I thought was, I will win this set, surely! That was the one thing."