Darts provocations in Liverpool
Boos against the prodigy – “Luke Littler changed that evening”
Status: 26.04.2024 | Reading time: 3 minutes
Responding to provocation: Luke Littler faced an unknown situation in Liverpool
Quelle: PDC/Kieran Cleeves
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Luke Littler is the celebrated darts prodigy. Actually. In Liverpool, his favorite football club becomes a problem. The 17-year-old experiences dislike for the first time and reacts with a winking gesture. He provides the best answer on the board.
He had prepared for this. Luke Littler obviously knew what to expect on matchday 13 of the PDC Darts Premier League. When the first boos from the audience rang out just before he went on stage in Liverpool, he grinned and showed his hands into the camera: the left hand with the index and middle fingers raised, which, however, was not to be understood as a peace sign or victory symbolism, because the right one right next to it was clenched into a fist: 2-0.
A result as a retaliation for the insults from the fans. 2:0 – or better 0:2. With this result, Liverpool FC lost the city derby against Everton FC the evening before and thus probably lost their last chance for the championship. A fitting response from Littler, the boos were less due to his game or behavior on the dartboard, but rather to his sympathies in football. The 17-year-old is an ardent fan of Manchester United, the big rival of Jürgen Klopp’s club.
Unlike United, the young Englishman is enjoying maximum success in his sport’s Premier League. After his 6:3 opening win against Price, “The Nuke” also won against Nathan Aspinall and Rob Cross and secured his third win of the day and thus the championship lead.
The third win: Luke Littler is having an outstanding debut season in the Premier League
Quelle: PDC/Kieran Cleeves
Much more important for his further development: for the first time in his career, the 17-year-old had to deal with great antipathy towards himself in Liverpool. In the semi-final against Aspinall he was already 2:5 behind and saved himself in the decider despite four match darts from his opponent and the ongoing battle with the audience. The fans only cheered him when his arrows missed the triple fields. Skipped checkouts were celebrated maliciously. Otherwise there were always boos and whistles directed at the teenager.
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Littler survives five match darts
As the evening progressed, Littler reacted more and more intensely to the provocations, encouraging the audience to carry on with gestures or putting his index finger on his lips after successful recordings. Littler not only played against the best players in the world that evening, but also against the hall.
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After his check on tops to make it 5:5, he stood in front of the audience and put his hands on his ears. The message: Even your boos can’t stop me from winning. After his victory, when he had survived Aspinall’s fifth match dart in the decider, satisfaction appeared on his bright red face. “It’s actually unbelievable by Littler’s standards what he achieved. “He hasn’t shown so many emotions over the course of an entire tournament,” said expert Robert Marijanovic at DAZN.
One thing is clear: Luke Littler didn’t give Rob Cross (right) a chance in the final
Quelle: PDC/Kieran Cleeves
However, he shouldn’t have any more problems in terms of sport. When he checked to make it 5-0 in the final against Cross, he had only allowed his opponent one dart into a double field in the entire match. In the end it was 6:2, made possible by an average of 105.32 points. An impressive performance in a completely new situation for Littler. British TV pundit Wayne Mardle summed it up: “Luke Littler changed that night. I don’t want to say he became a man today, he’s still 17. But something has changed.”
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Premier League, matchday 13, results
Quarterfinals
Luke Littler – Gerwyn Price 6:3
Luke Humphries – Nathan Aspinall 2:6
Peter Wright – Michael van Gerwen 3:6
Michael Smith – Rob Cross 4:6
Semifinals
Luke Littler – Nathan Aspinall 6:5
Michael van Gerwen – Rob Cross 2:6
Finale
Luke Littler – Rob Cross 6:2
Table
1. Luke Littler, 31 points
2. Luke Humphries, 26 points
3. Nathan Aspinall, 25 points
4. Michael van Gerwen, 24 Punkte
5. Michael Smith, 20 points
6. Rob Cross, 14 points
7. Gerwyn Price, 12 Points
8. Peter Wright, 4 points
