Luke Littler was booed in Brighton as he produced his lowest televised PDC average in a 6-4 quarter-final defeat to Stephen Bunting, and Wayne Mardle believes the result was a “knock-on” from Littler’s spat with Gian van Veen last week.
A week on from the high-profile confrontation in Manchester, the world champion appeared rattled by a hostile crowd on night 10 of the Premier League. Littler was jeered as he entered the Brighton Centre for the third match of the evening, and endured ironic cheers during a poor start he could not recover from.
Bunting, who turned 41 on Thursday, capitalised on multiple opportunities on Littler’s throw and, despite struggling on doubles, secured the win. Littler changed his darts during the contest, showed little reaction after the loss—shaking Bunting’s hand and leaving the stage quietly—and averaged just 83.94, failing to hit a single 180. It was the 19-year-old’s lowest average in a televised PDC match.
Former Premier League star Wayne Mardle felt Littler was off his usual standard. “I’m assuming tonight was a reaction to last week, although I don’t know. Littler looked quite flat, there were points where he was lobbing the darts, not petulantly but not with the directness he normally throws,” said Mardle. “It would be more of a coincidence if we said it had nothing to do with last week, it was a knock-on from that. I thought he was going to be okay but he wasn’t. He’s going to have to get back on the horse soon.”
After the match, Bunting addressed the boos aimed at Littler: “Thankfully, he is human! It’s tough because the crowd was giving him some stick. I like Luke because he’s a fantastic lad and I don’t like to see that.”
Match stats (Littler v Bunting)
– Legs won: Littler 4, Bunting 6
– Average: Littler 83.9, Bunting 91.3
– 180s: Littler 0, Bunting 3
– Highest checkout: Littler 44, Bunting 102
Three-time world champion John Part said Littler “didn’t look interested” during a subdued display. “Stephen did what he had to do. It must have been off-putting watching Luke and how he played,” Part said. “He really was off, you can speculate whatever the reasons. For Stephen, he had to get on with it and he could have won the match 6-0. He really should have. The first two legs Luke won, he had no business winning. He didn’t look interested.”
Jonny Clayton moved three points ahead of Littler in the table after a dramatic comeback to beat Michael van Gerwen in the night’s final. Clayton confirmed that Littler and Van Veen practised in different rooms at the Brighton Centre. “They’re always in separate practice rooms, myself, Mike [Van Gerwen] and Luke Humphries were in one and usually Gian comes into that,” said Clayton. “I don’t think there’s anything of it, it’s just the way it happens. Gian was in with us and Luke was in the other one. There’s nothing in that at all.”
Clayton produced a remarkable rally in the final: after falling 5-2 behind to Van Gerwen, surviving match darts at 5-2 and again at 5-4, he levelled at 5-5 with an 84 bull finish and then closed out the last-leg decider with a composed 12-darter to seal victory and reclaim the top spot in the table. “It’s time for Luke Littler to start chasing me again,” Clayton said after the win. “You’ve got to play darts, take your chances, and if you play half-decent you’ve got a chance of playing on Night 17.”
Factbox
– Stephen Bunting had 23 darts at double against Luke Littler — the most in a single game this Premier League season.
– Most Darts at Double this season: 23 Stephen Bunting (Night 10), 22 Luke Humphries (Night 2), 22 Luke Littler (Night 6), 21 Stephen Bunting (Night 6).
What’s next: Premier League Night 11 in Rotterdam (Thursday April 16)
The BetMGM Premier League moves to Rotterdam Ahoy with an earlier start time of 6pm. Matches scheduled:
– Quarter-finals: Luke Littler vs Gerwyn Price
– Gian van Veen vs Luke Humphries
– Michael van Gerwen vs Jonny Clayton
– Stephen Bunting vs Josh Rock
Ranking points are awarded per night (5 for the winner, 3 for the runner-up, 2 for semi-finalists) to form the league table. The top four will progress to Finals Night at The O2 in London on Thursday May 28. Luke Humphries defends his title this year.