Darts-WM in London
“Little fit of arrogance”: Littler insults the fans
Luke Littler dislikes the boos directed at him. The darts world champion takes the floor on stage and addresses the fans directly. A German professional criticized him for this.
With a red face, Luke Littler addressed the 3,000 fans at Alexandra Palace from the largest darts stage in the world. “Come on,” the 18-year-old world champion roared with satisfaction after surviving a turbulent 4-2 against former world champion Rob Cross and attacking the audience massively immediately afterwards.
World champion: “Thank you for booing me”
Littler had heard boos and whistles directed at him from the stands and then wanted to use the Sky Sports microphone to explicitly address the opponents he had identified in the Ally Pally. “It doesn’t bother me,” Littler claimed in an on-stage interview on Sky Sports and laughed out loud: “You pay for tickets and you pay my prize money. Thank you for booing me.”
During the encounter, the young Englishman repeatedly interacted with the audience. After the match dart was converted, Littler celebrated in a way that had rarely been seen before. He then quickly settled accounts with the fans.
This wasn’t just well received by the fans. The German professional Florian Hempel said in his first reaction on the DAZN microphone: “If we limit ourselves to what we heard: I think this reaction is completely exaggerated. Small attack of arrogance – you can do it, you just don’t have to do it.”
Hempel added by way of explanation: “Sorry, no, that’s not possible, that’s too much. You can’t complain to the people who pay your money. He can’t forget where he comes from.”
When Littler explained the incidents again on DAZN, Hempel added: “The words are still a bit too many. Others have had to endure boos and whistles.”
Pietreczko: “Every player hates it”
The British Guardian commented sharply that Littler’s transformation into a villain had been completed. For the remaining three games from the quarter-finals onwards, the young defending champions have to “do it alone”. The final takes place on January 3rd and Littler is the clear favorite for the title.
Whistles and boos are a recurring theme during the World Cup days in London. The German participant Ricardo Pietreczko had already criticized this before Christmas after his duel with Dave Chisnall. “It’s always the same: the whistles, the boos, although the boos aren’t actually the problem. But the whistles make you lose focus for a moment, and I think every player hates that,” described Pietreczko.
Littler wants to prepare for the quarterfinals
It was also an unfamiliar situation for Littler. Since he made his World Cup debut at 16, the fans have always been on his side. This time things turned out differently. “It was hostile, nobody wanted me to win. They were wrong,” said Littler, who had won all his games without losing a set before the 4-2 win against Cross.
After the brief outburst, Littler calmed down and appeared more moderate in subsequent TV interviews and at the press conference. “It was the first time at the World Cup that the fans didn’t want to see me win. But it’s okay. I’ll prepare for the worst in the quarter-finals,” said Littler, referring to the upcoming game on New Year’s Day.
dpa
