THE Saudi Arabia Darts Masters has underwhelmed on its first day with fans left baffled by the lack of crowd interaction.
with Danny Noppert vs Man Lok Leung, but many were left disappointed by the spectacle.
Darts fans have been left confused and disappointed by the lack of atmosphere at the Saudi Arabia Darts Masters
It follows on from supporters being disgusted at new scoreboards on ITV coverage for last week’s Bahrain eventCredit: X formerly Twitter / @OfficialPDC
Taking place in the country for the first time, the lack of atmosphere on show left TV viewers baffled.
The PDC’s official X account posted online bigging up the Noppert match but most didn’t agree.
A video was captioned: “Walk-ons with a difference here in Saudi Arabia!
“The Riyadh Season Saudi Arabia Darts Masters is underway!”
However, there is a lack of any noise during the much-famed walk-ons with no singing or cheering heard.
One user , replying: “So cringe, Matt Porter has proper killed this sport with this woke nonsense”.
Another said: “This is all making Bahrain look like a rave at the weekend. Brutal stuff”.
The first darts event of the year was played last week in Bahrain and also confused supporters.
looked more like a car’s speedo than a darts counter.
Now, with alcohol illegal in public in Saudi Arabia, as well as a criminal punishment for selling or possessing booze, .
Less than a month on from the , Saudi Arabia could hardly be more different.
An X account joked: “And the crowd goes mild”.
Someone else said: “For me taking away the players’ crowd interaction takes away a big part of the experience”.
Others were thinking the same, quoting the post: “The walk-on is one of the best parts of building an atmosphere.
“Even Mr Brightside got no reception. Between that, the crowd a mile down the back and the fake clapping for even small scores this is a hard watch.”
A comparison with the fan-less pandemic events was also made as one profile wrote: “Thought it was COVID again with it being so quiet from the crowd”.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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