Luke Littler remained unfazed by the hostile reception from the Rotterdam crowd during Night 11 of the Premier League Darts, stating it was 'exactly what I expected'. The crowd's negative reaction stemmed from Littler's previous spat with Dutch No 1 Gian van Veen from Night Nine in Manchester. Van Veen had won a contentious match, prompting Littler to react angrily after his opponent turned towards him while throwing match darts. Littler advanced to the final in Rotterdam, where he ultimately lost to Premier League leader Jonny Clayton.
Despite the crowd's taunts, Littler focused on his performance, saying, 'But I knew as soon as I got on stage I could do my job.' Prior to his opening match against Gerwyn Price, Littler had claimed he would not react to the crowd's jeers. However, during his semi-final clash with Luke Humphries, he couldn't resist responding to the crowd with a 'calm down' gesture and flamboyant flourishes with his darts. Sky Sports' Wayne Mardle noted, 'Littler said he will not react, but he has just reacted there - and they don't like it!' Mardle added, '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.' Littler secured a 6-3 win against Price and edged out Humphries 6-5 before losing 6-4 to Clayton in the final. Clayton's victory marked his fourth nightly win of the 2026 campaign, extending his lead over Littler to five points at the top of the table.
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.' 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.'