LIT THE FUSE
‘He doesn’t care what you want’ Luke Littler confronts booing fans after ‘distasteful’ play at World Darts Championship
Littler explained his behaviour afterwards
LUKE LITTLER confronted booing fans after a “distasteful” play at the World Darts Championship.
Littler, 17, stormed his way to the quarter-finals with a 4-1 win over Ian White on Saturday evening.
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The teen sensation set up a Monday battle against Ryan Joyce with a 97.84 average.
And his TWELVE 180s left the Ally Pally crowd on the edge of their seats yet again.
Littler even trolled his emotional second-round celebration by pretending to cry in front of his family.
However, a bizarre moment occurred midway through his win over White when fans began to boo.
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Littler, who was 2-1 up in sets but trailing 1-0 in the third, set up a 130 checkout while White was still languishing on 243.
The youngster hit a 20 and T20 to leave the Bullseye.
And supporters were eager to see Littler complete the move by hitting the central target.
However, the ace opted to go for the 10 instead, handing White another go but leaving himself with a much easier D20 for the leg.
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This did not go down well with some fans, who started jeering last year’s finalist.
Littler responded by staring at several of the boo boys before raising his head up and down several times.
Luke Little celebrates after beating Ian White to reach PDC World Championship last 16
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This left the Sky Sports commentator in stitches as they said: “Sensible play, even if it is to the distaste of the crowd.”
As others in the crowd began cheering following Littler’s head nods, the commentator laughed: “He doesn’t care what you want!”
The other co-commentator added: “They won’t be complaining if he does get a nine (darter). He can afford to put them in their place a little.”
Speaking afterwards, Littler explained the meaning behind his nods to the crowd.
He said: “I am not a nice person at times on the board. I don’t think anyone else is. But it’s always good to have that bit of aggression.
“It’s good for myself to show that I can be ruthless. Ian has been around for many years, he played my grandad.
“But for myself, it’s good to be ruthless, especially on that last dart as many people do see.”
Inside Littler's massive rise
LUKE LITTLER has taken the darts world by storm since exploding onto the scene at the PDC World Championship at the beginning of the year.
The Nuke reached the final on his Ally Pally debut at just 16 years of age - smashing records along the way.
He has then gone on to win a host of PDC events and the Premier League title - which he claimed at the O2 Arena by beating world champion Luke Humphries in May.
He also finished his first season in the World Series as the No1 ranked player.
He has joined Jude Bellingham on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list.
And the teenage titan even had to snub an invite from the WWE.
The Sun exclusively revealed that Littler is plotting to create a fitness empire.
He is also cashing in away from the Oche thanks to an Instagram side hustle.
And he's even the face of a brand new cereal.
But he is newly single after splitting from girlfriend Eloise Milburn following a 10-month relationship.
Check out all of our latest Luke Littler stories.
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