Luke Littler has shed light on the reason behind his 'cry baby' remark aimed at Gian van Veen, following their intense Premier League Darts match in Manchester. Van Veen emerged victorious in a contentious match earlier this month, which prompted Littler's angry reaction after Van Veen turned towards him while throwing match darts in the deciding leg.
Van Veen had expressed to Sky Sports that Littler was 'out of order' for celebrating towards the crowd, causing him to stare back at Littler. However, Littler has now shared his side of the story ahead of the Premier League Darts in Rotterdam, where the two could potentially meet in the semi-finals.
Littler stated that what people didn't see was Van Veen putting his darts down after the match, which Littler found disrespectful. He believes Van Veen was the one not doing his job by being respectful, and that he had never seen someone put their darts down in front of him before. Littler called Van Veen a 'cry baby' because he felt there was no need for Van Veen's actions. When Van Veen won, Littler congratulated him and picked up his darts.
Littler also mentioned that there was no need for Van Veen to stare at him when he still had not thrown his three darts. From Littler's perspective, he was looking up at the TV, thinking that Van Veen wouldn't miss, given his reputation as one of the best bull hitters in the game. Littler added that when he did a fist bump towards his girlfriend and her dad, the fans started screaming, but Van Veen had no reason to look back and stare at him.
Littler recently produced his worst televised average in Brighton, which he attributed to a lack of practice and not wanting to be there. He had only 18 hours at home and didn't get much time to practice before the game.
Van Veen also lost his first match, and the two did not speak to each other, practicing in different rooms. Littler thinks that other incidents in darts have been more heated than his exchange with Van Veen, citing arguments between Gerwyn Price and Daryl Gurney. He believes that the rivalry between him and Van Veen will draw more viewers and create a rivalry week in and week out.