GWENT’S Gerwyn Price has no sympathy for his rivals after they were subjected to whistling from the crowd while playing against darts sensation Luke Littler in Cardiff last week.

Price, the 2021 world champion, has often found himself at odds with darts fans since the 2018 Grand Slam of Darts and once sported ear defenders to drown out the boos.

And, asked about the treatment of Littler’s opponents during the Premier League Darts opener, he said: “Everyone’s going to get that every week now. I’ve had it for the last five years, so welcome to the club!

“Chuck everyone out, go back to COVID, that's the only way you’re going to solve it. You’re not going to be able to do anything. Everyone's going to do what they are going to do. You can’t stop it.”

Price has lost both his matches against 17-year-old Littler, who made headlines around the world last month following his debut run to the PDC World Championship final.

And, even though he’s full of praise for the new kid on the block, he’s determined to get the better of the youngster.

“I think it’s brilliant. I love him, I think he’s great for darts,” said 38-year-old Price. “A lot more people are interested now and so many more people are watching the sport, so fair play to him. But, I will beat him soon!

“Everybody knew about Luke from the youth tournaments, but we didn’t know how well he was going to do when he came into the PDC.

“He’s grabbed it with both hands and to get to a World Championship final in your first go is incredible. I thought he was going to win.

“He’s brought more eyes onto this sport than ever before and it’s a great story.

“It’s brilliant for darts and I wish him well, but I hope he plays rubbish against me next time!”

Price began his Premier League Darts campaign well on home soil last week, seeing off Nathan Aspinall and Rob Cross before losing out to Michael Smith in the final.

After some poor form at times during the back end of 2023, he said it was all about consistency and starting off well.

“I wanted to just get the first win and get one game against Nathan (Aspinall) and I've done that,” he said. “Beat Rob (Cross), I played pretty well. Rubbish in the final, but Michael played well. I'm happy, I've got a couple of points on the board and onto next week.”

Price pulled out of this week’s Cazoo Masters for family reasons but will be back in action in round two of the Premier League in Germany tonight (Thursday) when he looks for revenge against Smith in the quarter-finals.