Darts star Gerwyn Price on playing at ‘iconic’ Madison Square Garden, the sport’s ‘massive’ growth in America – and how Luke Littler has changed everything!
Darts star Gerwyn Price has opened up about playing at New York’s ‘iconic’ Madison Square Garden – and praised 17-year-old Luke Littler for helping the sport break international boundaries.
Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com ahead of the US Darts Masters in New York City this weekend, the 39-year-old opened up about playing in the world-famous arena and praised the crowd at the Garden – where he competed last year.
“The atmosphere was fantastic,” said the Welshman. ‘It’s an iconic location. For someone like me, from a small village in Wales, to be able to play in Madison Square Garden [shows] how far this sport has come.”
While delving deeper into the growth of the sport, the world number 5 also gave props to 17-year-old phenom Luke Littler. The teenager from Warrington has devoted a lot of attention to the sport, competing with the best in the world from a young age.
Littler had the fans’ eyes on the dartboard when he finished second in the PDC World Championship at Ally Pally in January.
Gerwyn Price admitted he was excited about playing New York’s Madison Square Garden
The Welshman played in the US Dart Masters last year and praised the crowd at the Garden
“He is already a great ambassador and has only been playing for the PDC for about five months,” he said of Littler. “The fans have gotten a lot better, and [we get] bigger audience since he got involved. So I think it can only get better and better.”
“Hopefully he can continue to play as well as he is because he remains interested,” Price added. ‘There are also a lot of young people coming through, but we hope that many more Luke Littlers will come to the PDC.’
When he returned to the United States, Price admitted that he had no contact with American sports. However, he acknowledged that fellow Welshman Louis Rees-Zammit was making the transition from rugby to the NFL.
Rees-Zammit shocked fans in January when he announced his participation in the NFL’s International Player Pathway. In late March, the former Gloucester winger signed an $884,000 contract as a running back for the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs.
‘I’ve obviously read a lot about Louis Rees-Zammit and he’s a fast player, a young Wales international, well, he used to be. Now he has started playing American football, it is a completely different sport.
“I hope he’s doing well, but I think it’s going to be pretty tough.”
The Welshman is ranked 5th in the world and went 2-1 in the European Tour 7
Price praised 17-year-old star Luke Littler for being an “ambassador” for the growth of the sport
Price suggested Louis Rees-Zammit’s transition from rugby to the NFL could be ‘tough’
Meanwhile, Price praised the PDC’s efforts to bring the sport to the United States and other parts of the world.
“Obviously it’s much bigger in Britain and Europe, but the PDC does a fantastic job traveling the world,” Price said. ‘Especially to America, in the US, to New York, to better promote this sport.
“Over the last few years I’ve seen it grow a lot and there are a lot of Canadian and American players coming to the pro tour. There is a lot of room for improvement in the US and in the coming years it will continue to grow and hopefully become as big as in Britain.
“We come to New York, we went to Vegas, we went to Dubai. At the beginning of this year we went to Bahrain. So it’s great to be part of the PDC and promote it to the best of my ability.”