TURNER WARNS DARTS STARS COULD WALK OFF OVER CROWD WHISTLING

LAURA TURNER fears players could start WALKING OFF stage over relentless whistling from crowds.

Night Six of the Premier League in Nottingham was marred by the disruptive noise, with spectators appearing to put players off at key moments.

Referee Huw Ware was forced to halt play and tell fans to “shut up” after shrieks from fans spoiled Stephen Bunting’s clash against Niko Springer at the European Darts Trophy in Göttingen earlier this month.

Sky Sports pundit Turner believes the problem may be hard to solve and could soon push the top oche aces to breaking point.

She told the Love the Darts Podcast: “It is really tough, isn’t it? You’ve got to hope that the people that are sat around them can appeal to their better nature because ultimately, you’re paying money.

“You want to go and see the best players in the world. Then you spend your whole time booing and whistling and then you’re not allowing the players to get the best out of themselves.

“I think you see it quite a lot on the Euro Tour and it has creeped into certain major competitions as well, but I know as a fan and as a pundit and even as someone who’s played in big arenas, it’s horrible.

“You don’t want that at all. But like you say, it’s feeling like it’s more part and parcel, but I just hope it isn’t.

“It could even come to a point where players just decide they’ve had enough, and they walk off the stage.  

“You know, you’ve got referees like, Huw Ware; he’s now starting to react as well. To say, you know, we don’t want it.

“You saw Philip [Brzezinski], who was the MC for that weekend in the Euro Tour when Stephen Bunting got a lot of hassle from the crowd.

“He’s actually now turning around and saying, we don’t want it. So, you know, it is being discussed more and, you know, we’re trying to force it out, but as you say, it’s so tough.”

Image by Taylor Lanning.