Luke Litter hits back at ‘fuming’ Gian van Veen after being branded ‘not a good loser’

Luke Littler has hit back at Gian van Veen after their heated Premier League match in Manchester on Thursday night.

In a rematch of the World Darts Championship final, Littler faced Van Veen in the opening round at the AO Arena but this time the Dutchman won in a nervy final-leg decider.

After missing a dart to win the match, Van Veen turned around and glared at Littler, who then threw his arms up and shouted towards the crowd.

Littler then missed a second opportunity to win the match and as he walked away from the oche, the 19-year-old made a crying gesture to the crowd.

Van Veen then hit double six to win the match and the pair shared a tense handshake.

Speaking after his win over Littler, Van Veen said: ‘I see him cheering towards the crowd, I don’t think that’s normal and then he makes that crying gesture too.

‘He is a great darts player, but today he shows that he is not a good loser. Cheering over an opponent’s miss really annoys me, so that’s why I gave him an angry look. That he then misses three darts at a double, that’s his problem.’

Van Veen added: ‘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, then he looked at me like I was the problem. He is probably fuming, that’s my perspective. His perspective is probably different.

‘I love Luke to bits. All the attention he has brought to the sport is phenomenal but today was my day.’

Littler responded on Instagram by sharing Van Veen’s thoughts on their exchange along with three laughing emojis.

The two-time world champion also posted a screenshot of his trophy wins from Wikipedia page, along with the caption: ‘Goodnight god bless thank you Manchester.’

Gerwyn Price, who went on to beat Van Veen in the final at the AO Arena, gave his verdict on the Dutchman’s clash with Littler.

‘Things like this happen in darts, I’m sure in a couple of weeks it’ll be done and dusted, gone and we’ll move on,’ Price said.

‘I’ve been in that situation, it’s part and parcel, in darts emotions are high, it’s a rollercoaster and people get hyped up.

‘It is what it is. If you didn’t have that reaction, sometimes you need to be a little bit peed off and get those reactions otherwise, what’s the point?

‘Do you not want to win that much? You’ll probably regret some of the things you do, or the reactions you have then you think about it tomorrow.

‘But if you’re not up for it in the game, sometimes it happens. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it, I’ve been there, the backlash of it, Luke will probably have it but in a couple of weeks, it’ll be gone.’

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