Luke Littler remained unfazed by the hostile crowd in Rotterdam during Night 11 of the Premier League Darts, stating that the negative reception was "exactly what I expected". The crowd's booing was a continuation of the tension that began after Littler's spat with Dutch No 1 Gian van Veen from Night Nine in Manchester. Van Veen had won a contentious match, and Littler reacted angrily after Van Veen turned towards him while throwing match darts, with Van Veen accusing Littler of being "out of order" for "celebrating towards the crowd". Littler went on to reach the final, where he lost to Premier League leader Jonny Clayton.
Despite initial claims that he would not react to the crowd's taunts, Littler couldn't resist responding in his semi-final match against Luke Humphries. When he leveled the match at 2-2, Littler made a 'calm down' gesture to a section of the crowd and added some flamboyant flourishes with his darts in the next leg. Sky Sports' Wayne Mardle commented, "Littler said he will not react, but he has just reacted - and they don't like it! 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 ultimately lost the final 6-4 to Clayton, who extended his lead at the top of the table to five points. 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." Sky Sports' 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."