Luke Littler was involved in a bust-up with darts rival Gian van Veen during the Premier League in Manchester on Thursday night after being accused of cheering his rival’s misses.
The world No1 and defending world champion has recovered from a slow start in the Premier League to top the table, and was hoping to continue to kick on when he faced the Dutchman in a replay of the World Championship final.
In a game that ebbed and flowed between two of the best players in the world, Littler missed three match darts – all at double seven – before his opponent nailed double six to claim a 6-5 victory in the quarter-final match.
Littler, though, appeared to take exception to some apparent complaints by van Veen. In the final leg, van Veen missed double 15 to win the match, and turned around to the crowd, which was cheering on Littler in his hometown, before throwing again.
Littler paused, before throwing his hand in the air in van Veen’s direction as if to urge him to hurry up. After the clash, Littler tried to gee up the crowd, before missing his second and third match darts.
As he walked away from the board, he made a crying gesture, seemingly aimed at his opponent, who would then go on to win the game.
Luke Littler (pictured) was involved in a heated spat with Gian van Veen in the Premier League
Littler made a crying motion following supposed complaints from van Veen (left) in the final leg
Despite the two shaking hands, Littler continued to fume as van Veen spoke in his direction, and Littler said something to himself as he walked off stage.
After the game, the Dutchman suggested Littler had been cheering his missed darts, which seemed to come after van Veen’s initial miss before Littler threw his hand into the air.
‘I’m on 90 and miss double-15 on the inside, and then I see him cheering towards the crowd,’ van Veen told Viaplay after the match. ‘I don’t think that’s normal.
‘And then he makes that crying gesture too… he is a great darts player, but today he shows that he is not a good loser.
‘Cheering over an opponent’s miss really annoys me. So that’s why I gave him an angry look. That he then misses three darts at a double, that’s his problem.’
Emotions were high with Littler, who is regularly booed at a number of venues around Europe, cheered in his home town of Manchester.
The crowd were firmly on his side, urging him on as some booed and whistled in van Veen’s direction.
That has not always been the case of late, with pantomime villain Littler turning on the crowd in December at the World Championship when he was booed in his last-16 match.
‘I’m not bothered, really I’m not bothered,’ he said when asked about the brickbats at Alexandra Palace. ‘Can I just say one thing? You guys paid for tickets and you’re paying for my prize money – so thank you for my money. Thank you for booing me! Come on!’
The two shook hands after the match as van Veen seemingly tried to explain himself to a fuming Littler
Van Veen, 23, meanwhile, won in the Premier League for the first time since having kidney stones removed last month.
‘The last few weeks have been very tough,’ he said. ‘And to beat Luke Littler now feels really good. The way it happened, that doesn’t really matter to me.’
Elsewhere on the night, Stephen Bunting beat Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price got the better of Luke Humphries. Josh Rock also defeated Johnny Clayton to pick up his second win of the season.
