Luke Littler attacked by ‘notorious’ Ally Pally wasp as title defence continues
Darts champ Luke Littler had been giving a post-match interview when the creepy-crawly swarmed around him, causing him to duck from side to side in the hilarious chat
Luke Littler’s world darts title defence has caused a real buzz — after he had to fight off a famous Ally Pally wasp. The teen star launched his bid to become the sport’s first £1m prize winner by brushing off Lithuanian Darius Labanauskas 3-0 in the first round of the World Darts Championship.
But he faced a tougher task surviving his post-match interview with Sky Sports’ Polly James. A packed Alexandra Palace crowd watched bemused as Luke suddenly started weaving from side-to-side.
Polly explained: “Oh, the Ally Pally wasp is there, he’s come to see you Luke.” The presenter urged the crowd and millions watching on TV to ‘bear with us’ as the 18-year-old star — battling to win a second successive world title — ducked and dived in a bid to dodge the stinger.
After Luke performed a final nimble body swerve the wasp vanished. “There we go; he’s gone,” said Polly before coolly carrying on with her interview.
It is not the first time Luke has come face-to-face with one of the critters which have plagued the entertainment venue for years. In 2024 Luke, then just 16, nearly got stung during his 5-1 victory over Brendan Dolan on New Year’s Day.
He said at the time: “I’m not sure what happened there; I felt a little zap — I saw it fluttering around near the end. It didn’t bother me. I felt it a little bit. I’m not sure if I was stung. But I had to focus and get over the line.”
As well as top sports events the Palace, which opened in 1873, has been a long-time host to generations of wasps thought to nest in rooftop nooks and crannies. While the critters usually hibernate in the winter experts say they are drawn out by the bright lights and intense heat generated during tournaments which fool them into thinking it is summer.
They then lap up fans’ lager, spilled sugary drinks and leftover grub. One was spotted nestling on Rob Cross’s shoulder after his match yesterday.
But some stars think it is about time organisers ordered the pests to buzz off. In 2023 Ross Smith said he was stung three times during his second round victory over Niels Zonneveld. “I’m going to be like the Elephant Man tomorrow,” he said.
“It went ping, ping, ping and flew off. Luckily it’s my left hand.” As he was speaking a wasp landed on him. Looking down at his hand he said: “There’s the wasp. He’s just done me. He’s just stung me like a good’un. Little ******.”
Days later Scott Williams was forced to karate chop a wasp during his last 16 clash with Damon Heta. He pulled off some martial arts moves to send it packing as he celebrated.
In 2024 Callan Rydz was unaware a wasp landed on his head during his match against Robert Owen. Fans watched on in horror as Rydz carried on playing, with him joking afterwards: “If I knew that, then I would probably have punched my head. Then I would have probably knocked myself out.”
Wasps have also targeted the Masters snooker finals at the same venue. Last year Judd Trump was seen wafting them away on a number of shots during his quarter-final against Ali Carter.
One landed on his waistcoat and stayed there for several minutes. The former world champion did not notice and knocked in a century break while the critter hung on before the match referee stepped in and removed it.
Carter, who witnessed the clash, said: “They should get Rentokil in or something like that. That problem needs to be sorted.
“Judd made a hundred break and I didn’t want to stop him because it was right on the back of his waistcoat. I thought it could sting him. You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. I just thought I’d stay out of it.”
Trump did not blame the wasp for his defeat by six frames to five, saying: “It’s not the reason why I lost.” But he went on: “It’s never nice because you can’t really get a flow, you’re never really in a rhythm, you’re kind of stop-start.
“It’s not nice for anyone in the tournament. It’s gone on a little bit too long now. They need to find a way to get rid of it just to make it easier for the viewing public. The Professional Darts Corporation, which runs the world championships, had not responded to a request for comment.
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