Gerwyn Price wasn't happy with the conditions in Wigan

'Gerwyn Price stood up for what was right': Paul Nicholson sticks up for the Iceman for walking out at Wigan midway through a match

By Paul Nicholson

Darts

Wed February 14, 2024 · 10M ago

Gerwyn Price hit the headlines for walking out of a match he was losing - but Paul Nicholson has strongly backed the Iceman in his latest column.

Price trailed Brendan Dolan 4-2 in a race to six legs in the third round of Monday's Players Championship event in Wigan before throwing in the towel due to cold conditions that he branded 'pathetic'.

The Welshman, who averaged 111 and 101 in his previous two matches on a day that saw Luke Littler hit one of three nine-darters en route to the title, then decided not to turn up to Tuesday's tournament and now faces the possibility of a fine from the Darts Regulation Authority over his behaviour.

However, the Asset believes critics should go easy on Price and feels his complaints should be given more respect...

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I’m not going to criticise Gerwyn Price one bit. It happens in other sports - including Ronnie O'Sullivan famously walking off in snooker - and people will always question it.

But in every situation, everyone has a breaking point, don't they?

Gerwyn Price has a reputation within the sport as someone who is very adamant about his opinions and actions more than most and he's justified to do whatever he wants. After all, this is a self-employed business.

He chose to play and then he chose not to play when he was in that position.

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Now, if there are rules in place where walking away from a game without a perceived legitimate reason is fineable by the Darts Regulation Authority, then that's entirely their business.

He made a decision in the heat of battle that he thought was right at the time and we've all been in that position before.

We've all done things in the heat of battle that we think are right at the time but in the long run may think differently.

Having slept on it, he chose to withdraw from the second Players Championship of the season but this is based on something that not only Gerwyn Price was unhappy about.

I'm not at liberty to name names of the players I've spoken to about this because I think that's unfair to name them in this scenario but I have touched base with people who said that the conditions were not good enough.

So, what's wrong with Wigan?

This problem isn't just about Gerwyn Price on Monday - it's been happening for years.

From a personal standpoint, as much as I have enjoyed playing in Wigan many, many times, it does have an enormous flaw. And that's the roof.

The roof is very, very thin. It's made of metal and when you go there in the winter it's cold. It's always been cold. When they used to have Q-School there in January, if you weren't ready for it, you were going to freeze.

When it's in the summer, it's the exact opposite. It's like walking into a sauna.

When you are choosing venues for professional tournaments like this, you don't just look at the size; you should look at how it reacts to certain conditions in the country that you're holding them in.

With this in mind, it takes me all the way back to a very hot August 2018 when we played in Wigan. It was so hot that when I was sitting on a table with Keegan Brown and his wife Roz, she ended up going to the shops around the corner to get as many fans as possible to cool us down. The conditions were abhorrent and they were not nice to play in at all. People couldn't wait to get out of that place.

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From that point of view it was too hot. But in the winter in that venue, it's too cold.

In the past when it was reported a venue was too cold, they brought in these massive heaters to try and warm the place up. Did it do the trick? To a degree, yes, but this whole episode once again shows that the Robin Park Tennis Centre is not a great location to play darts when the outside conditions are bad. Even when it's heavy rain you can hear it loudly on the roof. It's extremely off-putting.

Did this happen in Barnsley? Not as much, but we don't use that venue any more. We're gonna find out how these other venues stand up that are being used now, like Milton Keynes and Leicester. From my own experience, they are just fine which is a good thing.

But, how did he average 111 and 101 in his first two matches if the cold was a problem?

I think he's attempted to play as best he could under those conditions - and sometimes you're going to do defy whatever is thrown at you - but continued exposure to that kind of atmosphere takes its toll.

It's not good for your mood and it's not good for your body because it's your extremities which feel it more than anything else when you're continually exposed to it. It's your feet, it's your fingers.

Back in 2018 when we went to the UK Open in Minehead, the conditions were so cold that it had to be played behind closed doors. The conditions on that occasion were out of control of the PDC, Butlins Minehead and ITV sport but we were still played in a room that was minus one degrees.

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Everyone just had to get on with it. Mark Walsh had a hoodie on but Mickey Mansell got fined for wearing a beenie hat to stay warm! In the rules, you're only allowed to wear a hat for religious reasons but he said 'look, I've got no hair, I need to wear a hat in these conditions'. It was ridiculous to fine him under those circumstances.

Price could get fined for this but let's look at the bigger picture. Were the conditions that bad? Ask the players. Ask the tournament director, the Pro Tour manager. Let's just have a little bit of understanding here.

But, there were so many good performances including three nine-darters, conditions couldn't have been that bad?

I think it's a little bit subjective. If you were to poll 100 dart players and ask them if they'd rather be too cold or too hot? My estimate is that 75% would say they'd rather be too hot.

There are people who don't mind being just a little chilly and are still able to play. This is why it's such an interesting subject, because some people would have liked the conditions yesterday. Some people would have hated them.

All I saw on my social feeds on Monday were people saying that the conditions weren't very good. It's as simple as that.

But if I may go back a little bit further, this is not the first time it's ever happened.

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In January of 2008 a UK Open Qualifier was played in Gateshead and Ronnie Baxter was so cold he was playing in a fleece and got to a point where he could barely continue. He said his hands were so cold he almost didn’t finish his match and he ended up chalking the next game in multiple layers.

So, this kind of thing has happened before at this time of year.

We've just got to be a bit more mindful that if it's really cold outside at venues like Wigan and other places that preparations have to be better for the benefit of every player. On this occasion it wasn't good enough for a lot of them.

If the temperatures were what I was told then it's not good enough.

If they want to use Wigan, find a solution to make it the kind of place where everybody will be comfortable.

When you go to a workplace it's supposed to be around 21 degrees for health and safety. What makes darts different? Why should they have to play in 14 degrees Celsius or less?

Is playing when it's cold harder than when it's hot?

Yes. It's obviously a personal preference and when you look at the performance levels of some of the players on Monday including that amazing final between Luke Littler and Ryan Searle, not everyone struggles in the cold as much as others.

However, if there was a snooker venue where it's too cold and you're in a long match where you spend a lot of it sat down and not moving very much, do you think the likes of Mark Williams, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Judd Trump would put up with that?

I don't think they would. So why should Gerwyn Price put up with this in darts? I think we need to scout these venues and make sure the preparations for the conditions are better.

Is this episode bad for Gerwyn Price?

I hated it being cold and just had to get through it sometimes.

On this occasion we're talking about a headline-hitting player who is just a bit more honest than most.

Although this subject has happened before, he took measures that maybe other people wouldn't.

He might take flack for being a bad loser making excuses but we're talking about an era where people who have a keyboard and a screen seem to know everything that they can possibly know. The fact is they've probably never even been to Wigan in January, February, or any month, for that matter.

Coming from me, who's actually played at Wigan most months of the year, I know exactly what it's like. I've been to Q-School there, I've played many events there. I've been in the summer, the winter, the autumn, the spring, the lot. I know exactly what it's like.

I'm on his side and I think we should support his decision to stand up for what he felt was right.