Luke Littler has shaken off the boos he received during his side’s Premier League night 12 win at Liverpool, declaring that the reaction he received on night 11 in Rotterdam was “the worst I’ve ever experienced”.
Littler has recently become used to being jeered by the crowd, the worst of which was his altercation with Dutch No. 1 Jan van Veen on Manchester Night 9.
Van Veen won the controversial match, in which Littler became furious when his opponent turned towards him while throwing a match dart, with the Dutchman saying Littler’s act of “celebrating to the crowd” was “insane”.
As a result, Littler was booed in each of the three matches he took to the stage in front of Van Veen’s home crowd for the 11th night final in Rotterdam.
When Manchester-born Littler arrived at Liverpool, he was again not given a warm welcome. But he defied the crowd at the M&S Bank Arena to claim his fifth win, defeating Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen and Johnny Clayton.
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Speaking after the win on night 12, Luke Littler insists he is not content with just making it to the Premier League play-offs and will chase Johnny Clayton for the top spot in the table.
With four regular weeks remaining, they are currently just three points behind first-place Creighton.
For Littler, nothing could faze him after his experience in Rotterdam.
Littler told Sky Sports: “That’s it (audience boos). I won so I move on to next week.”
“Rotterdam was much louder than this tonight. This week was nothing compared to last week.
“But I have to forget about that. I was focused, I definitely wanted to win tonight and that’s what I did.”
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Luke Littler gave it his all by hitting the final two in his semi-final against Michael van Gerwen at Liverpool
He later added, “Last week we proved to people that we can win games under those conditions, and we’ve done it again.
“I’m not worried, I just expect the worst, but it wasn’t worse than Rotterdam.
“That was the worst thing that ever happened to me. It’s good that I was able to get through the game in those circumstances.
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Luke Littler, a walk-on, is jeered as he plays Gerwyn Price in Rotterdam after playing against Dutchman Jan van Veen on Premier League night 11
Littler and Van Veen “haven’t talked yet” and “don’t regret anything”
Three weeks have passed since Littler and Van Veen’s first altercation, and each week the crowd has grown more disdainful of the former.
Littler said the two have not yet spoken but believes they have both “moved on” from the incident.
But he looks forward to resolving the issue when he finally meets Van Veen on stage again.
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Watch World Champion Luke Littler get booed by the crowd at the Premier League Darts and World Darts Championships.
“No, we haven’t talked, but I’m not the type of person to go up and talk to him or anything like that,” he said.
“Maybe he’s waiting for me to go talk to him, but I’m not that type of person.
“Even when I’m in the practice room, people start talking to me. I’m not the type to talk much.
“Obviously it’s going to be decided on the dartboard. It was business as usual in the backroom. It was the same in terms of preparation.”
“I think he forgot about that. I forgot about that. If you want to talk to him, I will.”
“I don’t regret anything. Of course, I have my opinion and he has his, so we’re all entitled to that.”
“I think we’ve been on top of each other’s games on stage, but off stage obviously we haven’t talked. But yeah, I’m sure we’ll talk.”
Who will win this year’s Premier League Darts? Luke Humphries will defend his title and the fight can be seen on Sky Sports every Thursday until May. Stream darts and other top sports now.
