Gerwyn Price was welcomed to his PDC Premier League face-off in Cardiff on Thursday with chants from the crowd and a rousing rendition of Yma O Hyd in a welcome change from the taunts and abuse he has notoriously faced.
Price, known as 'The Iceman', beat Nathan Aspinall 6-3 in the final round on the second night of the tournament in Cardiff to win PDC Premier League night two, claim the £10,000 winner's bonus and five points for the league table.
Perhaps the supportive crowd had something to do with his performance, with clips showing loud singing of Dafydd Iwan's Yma O Hyd echoing around the Motorpoint Arena.
In January, the crowd-taunting got so bad that Price threatened to never play in the World Championship again after resorting to wear ear defenders.
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But a clip shared by Sky Sports Darts on Twitter showed a much more supportive crowd for Price this time around as he faced Chris Dobey in the quarter-finals, beating him 6-5. He went on to trump Michael van Gerwen also by 6-5.
Speaking of the crowd support after this win, Price said he only gets that type of support "once a year". He said: "Every walk-on and every dart I threw, every double that went in, the crowd was right behind me. It's only once a year I get that and I appreciated every moment out there it was brilliant, it was so great for me. I am not in the best of form, so they have won me this today. Can we play in Cardiff every week, or Swansea and Wrexham?”
Just over a month ago, the former world champion threatened to never play at the PDC World Championship again after mounting abuse. Price was dumped out of the biggest darts tournament in controversial fashion as he resorted to wearing ear defenders to block out the noise amid abuse from the crowd.
Price has been targeted by fans at Alexandra Palace in recent years and the vitriol clearly got to him as he folded to lose 5-1 against his impressive opponent.
Price suggested he may have had enough of being put off by the crowd, posting on Instagram: "So frustrating, you play all year round preparing for this one tournament. So gutted I wasn't let play but good luck everyone left in. Not sure I will ever play in this event again."
PDC Premier League night two results
Quarter-finals
Michael Smith 6-3 Jonny Clayton
Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Peter Wright
Gerwyn Price 6-5 Chris Dobey
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Semi-finals
Michael Smith 4-6 Nathan Aspinall
Gerwyn Price 6-5 Michael van Gerwen
Final
Nathan Aspinall 3-6 Gerwyn Price
