Luke Littler was subjected to more boos as the Premier League rolled into Berlin for night eight. The animosity could immediately be heard when ‘The Nuke’ was being introduced to the stage for his quarter-final game against firm crowd favourite Stephen Bunting.
However, Littler didn’t show any sign of the boos getting to him as he walked to the stage with a stern look and a composed manner. The Manchester United fan reacted by putting in a brilliant performance and gave no response to the murmurs of jeering that could be heard from the crowd as he wrapped up a 6-3 win.
‘The Nuke’ raced into a 4-0 lead before Bunting stopped the rot by checking out a brilliant 167 finish to deservedly get himself a leg on the board at the fifth time of asking. ‘The Bullet’ then held his throw to win a second leg after Littler missed the bullseye at 170.
‘The Bullet’ then held his throw to win a second leg after Littler missed the bullseye at 170. However, Littler powered across the line with a 104.73 average despite Bunting averaging 107.47 in defeat.
Littler has made no secret about his distaste of playing in Germany. The back-to-back world champion has slammed German fans’ behaviour on multiple occasions, and he even threatened not to play in the country again.
Ahead of the World Cup last year, Littler suggested he would boycott the event in Frankfurt after his defeat at the German Darts Grand Prix, saying he would not return to play in the country until the European Championships in Dortmund.
He said: « Shouldn’t have been in Munich but had to play anyway, next one in Germany for me is Dortmund and I am glad to say that. »
Littler did ultimately play in the World Cup alongside Luke Humphries, but the world No1. and No.2 were soon back on the plane home after they were beaten by Germany in their first game.
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