Littler Explains 'Cry Baby' Remark Aimed at Van Veen

Luke Littler has shed light on the incident that led him to call Gian van Veen a 'cry baby' after their intense Premier League Darts match in Manchester. According to Littler, Van Veen essentially gave up towards the end of the match, prompting the comment. The controversy began when Van Veen won a disputed match earlier in April, during which Littler became irate after Van Veen turned towards him while throwing match darts in the deciding leg. Van Veen had stated that Littler was 'out of order' for celebrating towards the crowd, which caused him to stare back at Littler. However, Littler claims that what people didn't see was Van Veen putting his darts down after the match, which Littler perceived as disrespectful. Littler expressed that he was still looking at the crowd and Van Veen had already put his darts down, leading him to question the action. He believes Van Veen was the one not doing his job by being respectful, as it was the first time he had seen someone put their darts down in front of him. Littler also mentioned that when Van Veen won, he congratulated him and picked up his darts. Littler stated there was no need for Van Veen to stare at him when he still had not thrown his three darts, adding that from his perspective, he was looking at the TV and thinking Van Veen wouldn't miss. Littler also shared that he did a fist bump towards his girlfriend and her dad after the match, which is when the fans started cheering. Littler felt that Van Veen had no reason to look back and stare at him, especially since he still had a dart in hand. Littler recently had his worst televised average in the Premier League Darts, which he attributed to a lack of practice and not wanting to be there. He hopes to bounce back and is looking forward to the upcoming matches, including a potential semi-final against Van Veen in Rotterdam.