The teenage sensation Luke Littler, who has won almost every major trophy in darts, has threatened to boycott events held in the Netherlands following a World Series of Darts tournament in Amsterdam where he was booed. The 19-year-old has said he would not attend matches in the country if the crowd’s hostility persists.
The threat comes as Littler, nicknamed ‘The Nuke,’ was on a quest to become the first player to win all 10 major televised tournaments in a calendar year. He was booed during his win against home favourite Danny Noppert on Friday and again during his narrow victory over Nathan Aspinall in the last-16 on Saturday. The referee stopped the match to warn the crowd about its behaviour before play resumed.
The Threat Behind the Booing
Littler said afterwards that the trip to Amsterdam was not worth it if he kept getting booed. “Just no point in me travelling, wasting my time while I’m getting booed,” he said.
Samuel Gill, editor of Dartnews.com, told BBC Sport that Littler’s future in the sport could be at stake. “There’s a real fear that within a few years he’ll just turn around and walk away from the sport,” Gill said. “So, I think for fans, ‘Don’t bite the hand that feeds you’. If people keep taunting him and don’t want him to win, he might end up just walking away and not bothering anymore.”
A Pattern That Spans Borders
Littler is not new to hostile audiences. He has endured jeers at several events across the UK, much like what he encountered in Amsterdam.
His rise has been extraordinary. He reached the PDC World Darts Championship aged just 16 in his debut year as a professional and captured the title the following year. Since then, the sponsorship deals, TV show and six-figure winners’ cheques have continued to flow.
But so have the whistles and boos. “I don’t think people expected him to reach the heights that he has so quickly,” Gill said.
A darts writer first took notice of Littler while the sport star was still 14. He says this degree of notice is not unusual for a British player. “Michael van Gerwen was the same for a long time when he dominated the sport,” Gill said. “He barely lost a game in about five years, and he was hoovering up titles for fun and it was similar.”
What Littler’s Boycott Would Cost the Sport
Littler is ranked number one in the world, and he is so far ahead of his nearest competitors that he already holds the advantage of playing selectively. That edge means his boycott threat could end up hurting tournament organisers.
“They don’t like him because he’s that good. And he’s got a bit of swagger to him,” said Karl Holden, secretary of St Helen’s Darts Academy, where Littler honed his skills from the age of nine.
Karl Holden also praised the young player’s character. “Luke’s got a bit of a character to him. For me, he’s the ultimate professional. He might give a little bit of the large sometimes, but you need that, otherwise darts would be totally boring.”
Littler’s withdrawal from a series of upcoming events is already a sign of how seriously he takes the issue. Gill believes Littler’s rapid haul of trophies, coupled with the huge amounts of money now in the sport, could result in the teenager leaving in the next “four to five years” should the boos and whistles continue.
Key Facts
- Littler is 19 and nicknamed “The Nuke”
- Ranked number one in the world
- Reached the PDC World Darts Championship aged 16
- Won the title the following year
- Made a sudden withdrawal from a series of upcoming events in the Netherlands
Why the Sport Would Suffer Without Him
Littler’s influence on the darting world is, in Gill’s view, immeasurable. Show tickets with him on the bill tend to be sold out, applications to darting academies are reported to be at an all-time high, and the Briton has risen far beyond the sport itself.
“If he was on that stage, everybody liked him and he just threw darts, I think I’d get bored of watching him,” Holden said.
Should Littler leave the game, Gill believes it would be the sport itself that suffers most. The loss of his contribution would hurt the sport more than it would hurt him, he argues, even though he says Littler is not the easiest person to work with. “He’s the one who is bringing this sport to a completely different level. Nowadays, he is back-page news wherever you go,” Gill said. “He might just decide ‘I just want a quiet life now and just live off his money’.”
Littler has hardly experienced anything other than winning. Now he faces the challenge of preserving that winning streak while keeping his audience content. That is difficult when some spectators are paying with the intention of seeing him fail.
The Warrington native’s run at the tournament came to an end after he lost his quarter-final against Jonny Clayton, which ended his bid for a perfect record. However, he made it clear to the crowd that he felt they had been unfairly harsh towards him.
The English professional darts player, ranked number one in the world, made a sudden withdrawal from a series of upcoming events and threatened to boycott tournaments held in the Netherlands. He had previously reached the PDC World Darts Championship at 16, and went on to win the title the following year. He is 19 years old.
Walking away is a possibility for Littler, and the idea that darts would suffer as a consequence is a genuine fear.
Source material: “'Real fear Littler could walk away' – darts would be loser in booing row,” the BBC.
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