Gian van Veen has said Luke Littler was “was out of order” after defeating the world No 1 in a fiery Premier League Darts quarter-final encounter in Manchester on Thursday.Littler surged to the top of the standings with back-to-back victories in Dublin and Berlin and was the big favourite on home soil at the AO Arena, but the 19-year-old’s hopes of claiming a third straight Premier League win were ended prematurely by Van Veen.
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Highlights of the Littler’s quarter-final clash with Van Veen
Littler, who is a big Manchester United fan and hails from nearby Warrington, failed to hit top form and lost a deciding leg in a tense 6-5 defeat against Dutchman Van Veen.
Van Veen had not won a match since week four of the competition and is still recovering from the kidney stones that forced him to sit out Dublin. But he served notice of his intent as he cruised into a 4-1 lead.Littler recovered to 4-3 and it appeared Van Veen’s chance might have gone when he failed to land a double for the match at 5-3 and back came the world champion to level.
The nerves were clear for Van Veen, who fluffed his lines going for double 15, prompting needle between the pair, with Littler gesturing angrily at his rival only to then surprisingly miss his opportunity.
Van Veen did not allow Littler another visit, and there was a brief handshake between the pair before the home star left the stage.
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Littler ridiculed Van Veen with a crying gesture after being accused of celebrating his missed dart
“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,” the 23-year-old Dutch ace 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.”That’s why I gave him a look. The fact he then misses three darts at a double, that’s his problem.”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…
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2026-04-02 22:09:00
