Gian van Veen criticised Luke Littler after the world No 1’s fiery Premier League Darts quarter-final in Manchester, saying Littler was “out of order” and “not a good loser.”
With the match hanging on a deciding leg, Van Veen missed a match dart at double 15 and turned to see Littler celebrating towards the home crowd and making a crying gesture. Littler then missed a chance to finish the match, and Van Veen took the next visit to wrap up the win. The pair exchanged a brief handshake as Littler left the stage.
“I’m on 90, I miss double 15 on the inside, and then I see him celebrating towards the crowd. I don’t think that’s normal,” Van Veen told Sky Sports. “And then he also makes that crying gesture. He’s a fantastic darts player but today he showed he’s not a good loser. Celebrating a miss from your opponent, that really annoys me… He was celebrating me missing double 15. That’s out of order. I was fuming about that and he missed three darts at double seven… I love Luke to bits. All the attention he has brought to the sport is phenomenal, but today was my day.”
Littler had been the heavy favourite on home soil after recent wins in Dublin and Berlin and topped the standings, but he struggled against Van Veen, who had not won since week four and was returning from a lay-off due to kidney stones. Van Veen built a 4-1 lead before Littler fought back to 4-3. Van Veen missed a match double at 5-3, allowing Littler to level, but nerves showed when Van Veen missed double 15 in the decider. After Littler missed three darts at double seven, Van Veen finished to claim the quarter-final victory.
Former player and pundit Wayne Mardle backed Van Veen’s reaction, saying Littler had “got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.” Mardle explained that Littler’s celebration after Van Veen went inside on D15 was provocative and that Gian was entitled to be upset. “You have got to say that Gian handled it better,” Mardle added.
Littler responded on Instagram by posting a list of his TV titles under the heading “goodnight, god bless, thank you Manchester” and used three tears-of-joy emojis in reaction to Van Veen’s “out of place” comment.
Gerwyn Price, who won the night in Manchester with a 6-2 victory over Van Veen, described the clash as “part and parcel of darts.” He said emotions run high and while players might regret actions later, he did not see anything particularly wrong with it and expected Littler to face some backlash.
The Premier League season continues with Night 10 in Brighton next Thursday. Quarter-final matchups include Luke Humphries v Jonny Clayton, Gerwyn Price v Josh Rock, Luke Littler v Stephen Bunting and Michael van Gerwen v Gian van Veen. Ranking points are awarded each night (five to the winner, three to the runner-up, two to semi-finalists) to form the league table that will determine the top four for Finals Night at The O2 on May 28.