Luke Littler has shed light on the incident that led him to label Gian van Veen a 'cry baby' following their intense Premier League Darts match in Manchester. Van Veen emerged victorious in a contentious encounter earlier this month, which saw Littler react angrily after Van Veen turned towards him while throwing match darts in a dramatic deciding leg.
According to Van Veen, Littler was 'out of order' for celebrating towards the crowd, prompting him to stare at Littler, who subsequently missed match darts at double and lost the contest. However, Littler has now shared his perspective on the incident ahead of the Premier League Darts in Rotterdam, where the two could potentially meet in the semi-finals. Littler revealed that as he walked back, Van Veen had already put his darts down, which he believes was unnecessary and disrespectful.
He stated, 'I think he's the one who's not doing his job, obviously being respectful. I think that's the first-ever time I've seen someone put their darts down in front of my face.' Littler called Van Veen a 'cry baby' because he felt there was no need for Van Veen's actions. When Van Veen won, Littler congratulated him and picked up his darts.
Littler also expressed that there was no need for Van Veen to stare at him when he still had not thrown his three darts. He added that he was looking up at the TV, thinking Van Veen would not miss, and was focused on his own celebration with his girlfriend and her dad. Littler stated that Van Veen should have stepped back, looked at the floor, and then thrown his last dart instead of staring at him.
Littler recently produced his worst televised average, 83.94, in a 6-4 defeat to Stephen Bunting in Brighton. He attributed the poor performance to a lack of practice, saying he 'didn't want to be there.' Van Veen also lost his first match, and the pair did not speak to each other, practicing in different rooms. Littler mentioned that this is normal and expects to talk to Van Veen eventually.
He also believes that the rivalry between them will draw more viewers, similar to past heated incidents in darts, such as arguments between Gerwyn Price and Daryl Gurney. Littler is focused on his darts and looks forward to the potential semi-final match against Van Veen in Rotterdam.