Littler Shrugs Off Hostile Reception in Rotterdam with Confidence

Luke Littler remained unfazed by the hostile crowd in Rotterdam during Night 11 of the Premier League Darts, stating that their reaction was "exactly what I expected". Littler faced boos from the audience for each of his three matches, a trend that started after his disagreement with Dutch player 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, with Van Veen calling Littler "out of order" for celebrating towards the crowd. Despite the crowd's negative reception, Littler advanced to the final before losing to Premier League leader Jonny Clayton. In an interview with Sky Sports, Littler said, "It was exactly what I expected, the boos and whistles, but I knew as soon as I got on stage I could do my job." Before his first match against Gerwyn Price, Littler had stated that he would not react to the crowd's taunts, but he couldn't resist responding in his semi-final match against Luke Humphries. When Littler took out tops to level the match at 2-2, he gave a 'calm down' gesture to a section of the audience and added some flamboyant flourishes with his darts in the next leg. Sky Sports commentator Wayne Mardle noted, "Littler said he will not react, but he has just reacted - and they don't like it! I think he's had enough of not reacting. He is 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 won against Price and Humphries before ultimately losing to Clayton in the final. Clayton's victory 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. But this old dog has got some life in him yet." 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."