Luke Littler said the hostile reception he received from the Rotterdam crowd on Night 11 of the Premier League Darts was “exactly what I expected”.
He was booed onto the stage for each of his three matches on the night as the negative reaction continued after his spat with Dutch No 1 Gian van Veen on Night Nine in Manchester. Van Veen won a controversial quarter-final in Manchester in which Littler reacted angrily when van Veen turned towards him while throwing match darts; the Dutchman said Littler was “out of order” for “celebrating towards the crowd”.
Littler again reached the final in Rotterdam before losing to Premier League leader Jonny Clayton. “It was exactly what I expected, the boos and whistles,” Littler told Sky Sports. “But I knew as soon as I got on stage I could do my job.”
Before his opening match against Gerwyn Price, Littler had said there would be “no reaction” to the crowd taunts, but he did respond during his semi-final with Luke Humphries. After taking out tops to level the match at 2-2, Littler made a ‘calm down’ gesture to a section of fans and then added a few flamboyant flourishes with his darts in the following leg.
“He’s had enough of not reacting. He is strutting and really giving it now,” Sky Sports commentator Wayne Mardle said. “When he has this swagger, he’s hard to deal with. He’s giving it the full repertoire. I like it!”
Littler beat Price 6-3 and edged Humphries 6-5 before ultimately losing the final to Clayton 6-4, having claimed the opening two legs impressively. Clayton’s victory was his fourth nightly win of the 2026 campaign and his second in a row, extending his lead over Littler to five points at the top of the table.
Clayton praised Littler after the final: “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. But this old dog has got some life in him yet.”
Sky Sports’ Glen Durrant also commended Littler for how he handled the Dutch crowd. “It’s brutal in here tonight,” Durrant said. “I’m not sure I would have had the mental capacity to deal with it, but Littler is different.”
Who will win this year’s Premier League Darts? Luke Humphries is defending his title, and the action continues every Thursday until May on Sky Sports. Stream darts and more top sport with NOW.