Luke Littler remained unfazed by the hostile reception from the Rotterdam crowd during Night 11 of the Premier League Darts, stating it was 'exactly what I expected'. The crowd booed Littler throughout his three matches, a continuation of the tension sparked by his spat with Dutch No 1 Gian van Veen from Night Nine in Manchester. Van Veen had won a contentious match where Littler reacted angrily after Van Veen turned towards him while throwing match darts. Van Veen accused Littler of being 'out of order' for 'celebrating towards the crowd'.

Littler advanced to the final in Rotterdam but ultimately lost 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.' Before his opening match against Gerwyn Price, Littler claimed he wouldn't react to the crowd's taunts, but he couldn't resist responding in his semi-final clash with Luke Humphries. When Littler levelled the match at 2-2, he gave a 'calm down' gesture to a section of fans and added some flamboyant flourishes with his darts in the next leg.

Sky Sports' Wayne Mardle commented, 'Littler said he won't react, but he has just reacted - and they don't like it!' 'I think he's had enough of not reacting. He's strutting and really giving it now. When he has this swagger, he's hard to deal with. He's giving it the full repertoire.

I like it!' Littler defeated Price 6-3 and edged out Humphries 6-5 before losing 6-4 to Clayton in the final. Clayton's fourth nightly win of the 2026 campaign stretched his lead over Littler to five points at the top of the table.

After the final, Clayton praised Littler, 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 commended Littler for his response to the Dutch crowd's taunts, saying, 'It's brutal in here tonight. I'm not sure I would have had the mental capacity to deal with it, but Littler is different.'