Luke Littler remained unfazed by the hostile crowd in Rotterdam during Night 11 of the Premier League Darts, stating it was 'exactly what I expected'. The crowd booed Littler throughout his three matches, a reaction that began after his dispute with Dutch No 1 Gian van Veen from Night Nine in Manchester.

Van Veen had won a contentious match, with Littler reacting angrily to his opponent's actions during match darts, prompting Van Veen to call Littler 'out of order' for 'celebrating towards the crowd'. Despite the crowd's animosity, Littler advanced to the final 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 first match against Gerwyn Price, Littler had vowed not to react to the crowd's taunts, but he couldn't resist responding in his semi-final clash with Luke Humphries.

When he leveled the match at 2-2, Littler 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 noted, 'Littler said he will not react [to the crowd], but he has just reacted there - 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 6-3 against Price and edged out Humphries 6-5 before ultimately losing 6-4 to Clayton in the final. Clayton's fourth nightly win of the 2026 campaign stretches his lead over Littler to five points at the top of the table. Clayton praised 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. But this old dog has got some life in him yet.' Sky Sports' Glen Durrant also commended Littler for his response to the Dutch crowd, 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.'