After missing a match dart, Van Veen turned around and glared at Littler, who responded by throwing his arms into the air, making a crying gesture and whipping up the crowd. Van Veen ended up winning the match despite being booed and the two rivals shared a frosty handshake on stage before going their separate ways.
« 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. »
In a separate interview with Sky Sports, Van Veen said: « 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 took to Instagram in response, sharing Van Veen’s scathing quotes alongside three crying-laughing emojis.
He also posted a screenshot of his achievements from his own Wikipedia profile, seemingly as a reminder that he is the best in the business, with the caption: « Goodnight godbless thank you Manchester. »
It comes just months after Littler pledged to work on his mentality, admitting that he is prone to being wound up in the heat of the moment.
Speaking in December following his victory over notorious slow-player Mensur Suljovic at the World Darts Championship, Littler said: « If I’m honest, mentally on stage I still don’t think I’m that good.
« I can lose my head a bit and throw a dart in the board out of frustration. That can happen, we all get frustrated, but I am still only 18. I can work on it and build on it. »
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