The Premier League Darts event in Nottingham last night was overshadowed by persistent whistling from the crowd that left players visibly annoyed during crucial moments.
World number two Luke Humphries pointed towards his ears after defeating Luke Littler in the semi-final, clearly fed up with the racket inside the arena.
Littler himself had shown his frustration earlier in the evening, throwing his arms up and down after landing a big checkout against Gerwyn Price in their quarter-final clash.
The disruptive atmosphere at Night Six has reignited debate about crowd behaviour at darts events, with former professionals and pundits now speaking out.
Phil Taylor has been blamed after fans whistling in the Premier League have infuriated players
| PAFormer professional player Matt Edgar reckons the blame for this annoying trend lies squarely with Phil Taylor himself.
Speaking to OLBG, Edgar explained that the 16-time world champion once gave an interview where he revealed his weakness to crowd noise.
"I remember an interview Phil Taylor did when he was asked about the noise," Edgar said.
"He goes, I don't mind the noise, the one thing I can't stand is the whistling."
According to Edgar, that admission was all fans needed to hear, and they've been using it as a weapon ever since.
Luke Littler was among the players to fume at the whistling that took place in Nottingham on Thursday night
| GETTY"Then from there it was like, right, we need to get on his back now and annoy Phil Taylor by whistling," he added.
Edgar drew a comparison to the world of professional wrestling, likening the whistling phenomenon to the infamous "what" chants that started with Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Those chants became an irritating way for wrestling fans to interact during promos, and somehow the whistling has stuck in darts in much the same fashion.
"I think it stems from that moment of Taylor saying it puts people off," Edgar explained.
"I think people almost try and play centre stage and take over. That is what they are doing."
The tactic appears deliberately timed to disrupt players at the most pressurised moments, particularly when they're attempting crucial doubles.
Pundit Charlie Murphy was at the Nottingham Arena and felt the full force of the disruption from his position close to the stage.
"Last night you could really hear the whistling and we were quite close to the stage," he said.
"It was annoying and really loud and prominent. On doubles as well."
Murphy issued a direct plea to those responsible: "Please stop it. Just stop it, you are ruining it for everybody."
He wasn't alone in his frustration, noting that Glenn Durrant had branded the whistlers "morons" – a sentiment Murphy fully backed.
"If you are going to whistle, don't bother going," he added.