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's negative reaction towards Littler stemmed from his previous spat with Dutch No 1 Gian van Veen from Night Nine in Manchester.
Van Veen had won a contentious match, and Littler reacted angrily after van Veen turned towards him when throwing match darts. Littler advanced to the final in Rotterdam before ultimately losing to Premier League leader Jonny Clayton. Despite the crowd's boos and whistles, Littler focused on his performance, saying, '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 would not react to the crowd's taunts.
However, during his semi-final clash with Luke Humphries, he couldn't resist and gave a 'calm down' gesture to a section of fans. Sky Sports commentator Wayne Mardle noted, 'Littler said he will not react, but he has just reacted there - and they don't like it!' Mardle added, 'I think he's had enough of not reacting. He is strutting and really giving it now.' Littler secured wins against Price and Humphries before losing to Clayton in the final. Clayton's victory marked his fourth nightly win of the 2026 campaign and stretched his lead over Littler to five points at the top of the table.
Clayton praised Littler, saying, 'I've got total respect for Luke. He's absolutely amazing.' Clayton added, '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 crowd's taunts, stating, '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.'