Dutch darts player Gian van Veen has stated that he doesn't need to talk to Luke Littler to put their recent on-stage disagreement behind them. The incident occurred during a match at the Premier League in Manchester, where Van Veen won a contentious game. Littler had reacted angrily after Van Veen turned towards him while throwing darts in the deciding leg.
Van Veen felt that Littler was out of line for celebrating towards the crowd, which caused him to stare back. However, Littler has since explained that his celebrations were directed at his girlfriend and dad.
Despite hearing Littler's side of the story, Van Veen's opinion on the matter remains unchanged, although he claims to have no hard feelings towards his opponent. Van Veen enjoys the competitive aspect of darts but prefers not to be directly involved in conflicts. He is looking forward to facing Littler again and believes that their rivalry can be good for the sport.
Meanwhile, Michael van Gerwen thinks that the incident has been blown out of proportion and that too much is being made of it. Van Gerwen compared it to his own past clashes with Phil Taylor, saying that if this incident was a big deal, then he and Taylor would have been in the news every week. The Premier League Darts will continue in Rotterdam, where Van Veen will face Luke Humphries, and Littler will take on Gerwyn Price.
The tournament will be streamed on Sky Sports, and the top four players will progress to the Finals Night at The O2 in London on May 28.