Luke Littler stated that the negative reaction he received from the Rotterdam crowd during Night 11 of the Premier League Darts was precisely what he had anticipated. Throughout his run to the final, Littler was booed by the crowd for each of his three matches, a trend that began after his disagreement with Dutch No 1 Gian van Veen from Night Nine in Manchester. Van Veen emerged victorious in a contentious match where Littler reacted angrily after his opponent turned towards him while throwing match darts, with the Dutchman claiming Littler was 'out of order' for 'celebrating towards the crowd'.

Littler ultimately reached the final again in Rotterdam before losing to Premier League leader Jonny Clayton. 'It was exactly what I expected, the boos and whistles,' Littler told Sky Sports. 'But I knew as soon as I got on stage I could do my job.' Prior to his opening match against Gerwyn Price, Littler had stated there would be 'no reaction' from him to the taunts of the crowd, but he couldn't resist in his semi-final clash with Luke Humphries. When taking out tops to level the match at 2-2, Littler gave a gesture of 'calm down' to a section of fans before adding a few flamboyant flourishes with his darts in the next leg.

Sky Sports' Wayne Mardle said on commentary, 'Littler said he will not react [to the crowd], but he has just reacted there - and they don't like it!' Littler came through 6-3 against Price and edged out Humphries 6-5 before ultimately coming unstuck in the final, losing 6-4 to Clayton after claiming the opening two legs in impressive fashion. Clayton's fourth nightly win of the 2026 campaign, and second in succession after also emerging victorious last week at Brighton, stretches his lead over Littler to five points at the top of the table.

Clayton was full of praise for Littler after the final, saying: 'I've got total respect for Luke. He's absolutely amazing. This guy has got years ahead of him, an amazing darts player - and he's shown us all the level we need to be to beat him.' Sky Sports' Glen Durrant also praised Littler for how he responded to the taunts of the Dutch crowd throughout the night. 'It's brutal in here tonight,' Durrant said.

'I'm not sure I would have had the mental capacity to deal with it, but Littler is different.'