Luke Littler admitted darts fans might be “tired” of seeing him win after narrowly defeating Mike Decker in the first round of the Winmau World Masters.
Littler survived match darts to score a dramatic victory in Milton Keynes on Friday.
The 19-year-old came close to making an incredible nine-darter, while Decker won back-to-back sets but missed match darts to win 3-1 before Littler staged a late comeback.
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At the Winmau World Masters, Mike DeDecker missed a decisive dart against Luke Littler, allowing world No. 1 Luke Littler to fight back and snatch victory.
Littler broke DeDecker to take the match to a deciding set, then won both legs to win 3-2 and set up a second-round matchup with Ross Smith.
After the win, Littler revealed that he realizes that fans may be growing tired of his dominance in the sport, having experienced many times where the crowd has backed his opponent in key moments.
The Manchester United fan also referred to Wayne Rooney’s reaction to England’s boo-boys after their goalless draw with Algeria at the 2010 World Cup, and his rant hit the headlines.
“Everything was going on tonight. The boos, the cheers, I just had to do my thing,” Littler said.
“Right now, in my head, I think people want to see new winners. People are getting tired of me, Luke (Humphries) and Gian (Van Veen) winning.”
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On Love The Darts, Chris Murphy and Michael Bridge discuss the reaction Luke Littler receives from spectators at Premier League venues.
“Obviously people can choose who they want to support and who they want to boo.
“Like I said tonight, I’m not going to do anything during or after the game, I’m just going to play darts.
“You’ve seen that clip of Wayne Rooney at the World Cup saying, ‘I’m happy to see the fans booing.’
“I saw it on TikTok literally hours after the Rob Cross fight[at the world championships].
“It’s pretty crazy. Like I said, I have to learn from the world championships and just try not to react.”
Winmau World Masters: Saturday Round 2 Schedule
Afternoon session (13:00 GMT)
round 2 x4
best of 7 set
Damon Heta v Chris Dobie
Gary Anderson vs James Wade
Jan van Veen vs Nathan Aspinall
Johnny Clayton v Gerwyn Price
Evening session (19:00 GMT)
round 2 x4
best of 7 set
Rob Cross v Josh Locke
Stephen Bunting v Danny Knoppert
Luke Littler vs Ross Smith
Luke Humphries v Luke Woodhouse
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