Gian van Veen criticised Luke Littler after their Premier League Darts quarter-final in Manchester, saying the world No. 1 was “out of order” and “not a good loser.” The row centred on the deciding leg when Van Veen missed a match dart at double 15 and saw Littler celebrating towards the crowd and making a crying gesture.
Van Veen missed double 15 on the inside and said he was angered by Littler’s reaction. “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,” he 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.”
On the board, Littler had been favourite after recent wins in Dublin and Berlin and topping the standings, but he struggled against Van Veen, who was returning from a lay-off caused by kidney stones and had not won since week four. Van Veen raced into a 4-1 lead before Littler pulled it back to 4-3. Van Veen missed a match double at 5-3, allowing Littler to level, and nerves showed again in the decider when Van Veen missed double 15. After Littler missed three darts at double seven, Van Veen took the next visit to seal the quarter-final victory. The pair exchanged a brief handshake as Littler left the stage.
Former player and pundit Wayne Mardle supported Van Veen’s reaction, saying Littler had “got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.” Mardle described Littler’s celebration after Van Veen’s miss as provocative and felt Gian was entitled to be upset, adding that Gian had “handled it better.”
Littler responded on Instagram by posting a list of his TV titles under the caption “goodnight, god bless, thank you Manchester,” and reacted to Van Veen’s “out of place” comment with three tears-of-joy emojis.
Gerwyn Price, who won the night in Manchester with a 6-2 victory over Van Veen, described the incident as “part and parcel of darts.” He noted emotions run high during competition, suggested players sometimes regret things later, and said he did not see anything particularly wrong while acknowledging Littler might face criticism.
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. Each night awards ranking points (five to the winner, three to the runner-up, two to semi-finalists) that build the league table and determine the top four who will contest Finals Night at The O2 on May 28.