Fan suddenly throws phone onto stage during Gurney interview: “I think you have a phone call"
PDCMonday, 23 February 2026 at 22:41
Daryl Gurney convincingly won his opening match at the Poland Darts Open, but afterwards the focus was on a striking incident next to the oche. During his interview, an iPhone was suddenly thrown onto the stage, to the surprise of both Gurney and interviewer Philip Brzezinski.
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The Northern Irishman had moments earlier had little trouble with Polish qualifier Dawid Robak, who was making his Euro Tour debut. Gurney missed plenty of doubles, but still ran out a comfortable 6-1 winner at the Poland Darts Open.
While Gurney was being interviewed by PDC Europe presenter Philip Brzezinski, the conversation was abruptly interrupted. Both men looked down in surprise after an object landed on the stage. There was a brief moment of confusion, until Gurney broke the tension with a joke. “I think you have a phone call," he said.
Focus on clash with Ross Smith
From a sporting perspective, a tougher assignment now awaits Gurney. In the second round he faces Ross Smith, an opponent against whom he has posted good recent results on the Euro Tour. Still, the Northern Irishman is not expecting an easy tie. He sees Smith as a player clearly bouncing back after a difficult spell.
“I think Ross, last year, with the tragedy of his mother, I feel like that affected his darts," said Gurney.
“I feel like this year he will get over that, and he showed it in the World Masters with how well he played against Jimmy van Schie.
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According to Gurney, Smith belongs structurally among the sport’s elite. “I feel like he will be a really big force to be reckoned with in the PDC. He deserves to be in the top 16." The Northern Irishman only hopes his praise won’t be taken the wrong way. “Hopefully I don’t give him too many compliments and he thinks, ‘Oh, this is going to be easy, Daryl is waxing this."
Gurney mainly wants to focus on himself and raise his level further heading into the clash in Krakow. “Hopefully I am a lot better tomorrow and more consistent. I am looking forward to the game.”
The 39-year-old can draw on a strong season behind him. Last year he reached the quarterfinals of both the European Championship and the Players Championship Finals. He also enjoyed major success on the international stage by winning the World Cup of Darts for Northern Ireland alongside Josh Rock.
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Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of DartsNews.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy across professional darts coverage. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces, playing a central role in the development and daily operation of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has extensive experience in darts media and has been closely involved in coverage of the professional darts circuit for several years. Within the UK darts community, he is a recognised figure known for his consistent editorial output and ongoing reporting on major tournaments and developments across the PDC calendar.
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- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
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