The teenage superstar faced jeers and whistles during the World Series in Amsterdam recently and has since pulled out of two events in the Netherlands
Luke Littler could walk away from darts for good unless the ‘boo’ boys shut up, arrows chiefs fear.
The teen superstar was subjected to jeers and whistles as he competed in the World Series in Amsterdam at the weekend. He has since pulled out of two events in the Netherlands after threatening to boycott the country.
But Samuel Gill, editor of DartNews.com, suggests the back-to-back world champion’s entire future in the sport could be at risk. “There’s a real fear that within a few years he’ll just turn around and walk away from the sport,” he said.
“So I think for fans, ‘Don’t bite the hand that feeds you’. If people keep taunting him and don’t want him to win he might end up just walking away and not bothering anymore.”
Luke has helped turn darts into Britain’s fastest growing sport since reaching the world championship final three years ago aged just 16. Though he lost to Luke Humphries, Littler went on to lift the trophy in both the following years.
Darts legend Phil Taylor – who won the world title 16 times – has declared the now 19-year-old ‘better’ than him. Thousands of rookies from all over the world queued for hours for the chance to play him in new Netflix show Beat Luke Littler next month.
But Luke – who is reportedly worth up to £6.5m – has found himself jeered by hostile fans at multiple events. The referee had to stop his match against Nathan Aspinall in the last-16 of the World Series at the weekend and warn the crowd about its behaviour before play resumed. He had also been booed during his win against Danny Noppert the day before.
Luke’s quarter-final defeat by Jonny Clayton ended the teen’s chances of becoming the first player to win all 10 major televised tournaments in a calendar year.
He has said if the booing continues he will not play in the Netherlands again as there is ‘just no point in me travelling, wasting my time while I’m getting booed’.
Samuel suggested the world No1 darts’ future could be at stake and if walks away much of the sport’s new-found appeal could disappear with him.
“I don’t think people expected him to reach the heights that he has so quickly,” he said. “He’s the one who is bringing this sport to a completely different level. Nowadays he is back-page news wherever you go. He might just decide, ‘I just want a quiet life now’ and just live off his money.”
Karl Holden, secretary of St Helen’s Darts Academy where Littler honed his skills from the age of nine, told the BBC the young star may need to shut his ears to the jeers.
He said: “They don’t like him because he’s that good. And he’s got a bit of swagger to him. Luke’s got a bit of a character to him. For me he’s the ultimate professional. He might give a little bit of the large sometimes, but you need that, otherwise darts would be totally boring.”