World No.1 Luke Littler and Gian van Veen could be drawn together in Brighton after a heated exchange in Manchester last Thursday. Van Veen branded Littler “out of order” following a fiery quarter-final in which Van Veen missed a match dart and turned to find Littler celebrating in front of the crowd. Littler then made an angry gesture as Van Veen returned to the oche. Littler later missed his chance to throw for the match, Van Veen recovered to win, and the two exchanged a short handshake after Littler made a crying gesture to the crowd.
If Gian van Veen defeats Michael van Gerwen and Littler gets past Stephen Bunting in their quarter-finals, the pair could meet again in Brighton.
Sky Sports pundit Wayne Mardle criticised Littler’s celebration on D15, likening it to a provocative “well done” gesture and saying Van Veen handled himself better. Mardle quipped Littler had “got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.” Littler later posted a list of his TV titles on Instagram with the caption “goodnight, god bless, thank you Manchester” and responded to Van Veen’s comments with laughing emojis.
Luke Humphries, who said he felt some sympathy for Littler, described the incident as something that “comes with the territory” and predicted it will be forgotten in a couple of weeks: “It’s hot news right now. In two weeks it will all be forgotten, no one will remember it and we’ll all move on.” He added that needle isn’t necessary for the sport but conceded “if it happens, it happens.”
Humphries is also in a pivotal phase of his title defence. The defending champion sits sixth with 11 points in the table; Van Veen is fifth on 12 and Michael van Gerwen fourth. Humphries has not yet won a night this season but has reached four semi-finals and one final, where he lost 6-1 to Jonny Clayton on Night Six in Nottingham. He returns to Brighton — where he hit a nine-darter against Rob Cross last year — and said: “It’s a game I probably have to win. It’s probably getting to the point of no return, where you can’t really be losing games in the first round. I don’t really have to win the night, I just have to keep winning that first game and maybe win one night at least.”
Mardle added that Humphries punished himself too harshly in Manchester for missed trebles but warned it’s not yet time to “push the panic button” as his fate remains in his own hands.
Gerwyn Price, who overcame Van Gerwen, Bunting and Van Veen with averages over 100 to win in Manchester, is targeting the top of the table. Facing Josh Rock in Brighton, Price said he aims to pick up two points every week and believes everyone still has a chance in the competition.
Night 10 — The Brighton Centre, Thursday April 9
Quarter-finals: Luke Humphries vs Jonny Clayton; Gerwyn Price vs Josh Rock; Luke Littler vs Stephen Bunting; Michael van Gerwen vs Gian van Veen.
Ranking points are awarded each night (5 to the winner, 3 to the runner-up, 2 to semi-finalists) to form the league table. The top four progress to Finals Night at The O2 in London on Thursday May 28.