Littler could boycott Dutch events after being booed in Amsterdam

World champion Luke Littler threatened to stop playing in the Netherlands after being booed and whistled at during the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam on Saturday. The referee halted his last-eight match against Nathan Aspinall to warn the hostile crowd before play resumed.

Littler has won back-to-back PDC World Championship titles and was booed during his win against home favourite Danny Noppert on Friday. He also sealed a narrow victory over Aspinall in Amsterdam, with the match described in coverage as a dramatic final-leg win. Those incidents followed previous crowd hostility he has encountered at major events.

During the last-eight encounter the referee intervened amid jeering and the match resumed after a warning to the spectators. Coverage of the event noted Littler's ability to close out the contest despite the disruption and the crowd behaviour becoming a notable feature of the session.

Littler has faced similar treatment in Germany and has stopped playing in European Tour events in that country. He was booed during a win over Rob Cross at the PDC World Championship in December; after that match he said: "I'm not bothered [by the booing]. Really not bothered. You guys pay for tickets and you pay for my prize so thanks for booing me."

Asked if he was prepared to take a similar stance for Dutch events, the 19-year-old told Online Darts: "100%." He added: "With the Germans, I haven't been for a long time, we will have to see in Dortmund whether it changes or stays the same."

Littler criticised the Amsterdam crowd directly, saying: "If the Dutch stay like this, then I'm not going to do any Euro tours over there. There's just no point in me travelling, wasting my time whilst I'm getting booed." He also said: "I just want to play my darts, obviously sign autographs." and "The past two nights, I've done nothing, I've just walked off stage and not thanked anyone. There's no point thanking everyone when they are booing me."

Littler is expected to play at the European Championship in Dortmund in October.