In his round-of-16 match against Ross Smith, Suljovic was on the brink of elimination. With the score at 5-5, his opponent was throwing for the match. After Smith missed his first attempt at double 18, isolated whistles rang out. Suljovic sensed his opportunity and, gesturing wildly, urged the crowd to get louder and presumably distract 'Smudger' with their whistles.
Suljovic's riling-up worked - Smith missed his second match dart as well, prompting Suljovic to celebrate with a fist pump. Suljovic fought back from 3-5 down, returned to the oche, and checked out 55 to win.
"I don't blame Mensur for losing this match. I missed two match darts. It's as simple as that," Smith wrote on X after the match.
"Of course, I can't know what he does behind my back while I'm throwing - apart from the crowd's reactions. If he wants to be an absolute helmet, that's his business. Karma will catch up with him."
After his 6-1 quarterfinal win over Dirk van Duijvenbode, Suljovic was asked in an interview with Master of Ceremonies Philip Brzezinski about his behaviour and Smith's subsequent comments.
"Ross Smith is one of the best players in the world. What is the guy complaining about? He has to play his game. Otherwise he might as well go home. Women complain, sorry, you don't do that," the Austrian said.
"Whenever I'm in England, everyone is against me. They're against me everywhere. And now all of a sudden he's complaining. He might as well stay at home."
Second incident in a year
This wasn't the first time Suljovic attracted negative attention for his conduct on stage. At the 2026 World Darts Championship, 'the Gentle' faced Joe Cullen in the second round. The Vienna-based player repeatedly celebrated exuberantly and took too long to get back to play.
Joe Cullen reacted with an annoyed head shake and condemned the behaviour on X after his 1-3 defeat.
"If this is supposed to be darts, then I want nothing to do with it!" Cullen wrote.
"The old guard will say it's part of the game, but however you look at it - this is CHEATING! That's not darts."