Luke Littler was booed in Brighton as he recorded his lowest PDC TV average in defeat to Stephen Bunting, and Wayne Mardle believes his Premier League quarter-final exit was a “knock-on” from his spat with Gian van Veen last week?A week on from his much-publicised spat with Dutchman Van Veen in Manchester, the world champion suffered another last-eight loss after appearing rattled by a hostile crowd on night 10 of the competition.
Littler was subjected to jeers as he entered the Brighton Centre for the third match of the evening and then endured ironic cheers during a poor start from which he could not recover.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Highlights of the quarter-final between Littler and Stephen Bunting
Bunting, who turned 41 on Thursday, could easily have enjoyed a far more comfortable success as he was gifted multiple opportunities on his opponent’s throw and hit just six of his 21 darts at a double.Littler, who changed his darts throughout the contest, showed little reaction to the loss, shaking Bunting’s hand and exiting the stage meekly after averaging only 83.94 and failing to hit a single maximum.
It was the 19-year-old’s lowest average in a televised PDC match.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Wayne Mardle takes a closer look at what caused the fiery end to Littler’s quarter-final match with Van Veen
Former Premier League star Mardle felt pre-match favourite Littler was nowhere near his usual standard as he suffered another early exit.
“I’m assuming tonight was a reaction to last week, although I don’t know. Littler looked quite flat, there were points where he was lobbing the darts, not petulantly but not with directness he normally throws,” said ‘Hawaii 501’.”It would be more of a coincidence if we said it had nothing to do with last week, it was a knock-on from that. I thought he was going to be OK but he wasn’t.”He’s going to have to get back on the horse soon.”Bunting spoke to Sky Sports after his win and addressed the boos directed towards Littler.He said: “Thankfully, he is human! It’s…
2026-04-10 07:59:00
