Luke Littler threatens to boycott Netherlands events after being booed in Amsterdam
Luke Littler threatened to boycott tournaments in the Netherlands after being booed and whistled during matches in Amsterdam on Friday and Saturday night at the World Series of Darts Finals. The 19-year-old back-to-back world champion said he was "100 %" prepared to do the same in the Netherlands.
Littler has previously refused to travel to European Tour events in Germany because of his treatment from those crowds, and he raised the issue again at the Amsterdam finals. "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," he told Online Darts. That prior stance frames his current warning about avoiding Dutch Euro tour events.
The hostile reception followed Littler through the opening rounds in Amsterdam, with booing and whistling during his Friday victory over home favourite Danny Noppert. The atmosphere escalated on Saturday night when referee Charlie Costorphine had to intervene during Littler’s last-16 match against Nathan Aspinall.
Littler set out his position on travel to tournaments in direct terms following the incidents in Amsterdam. "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. I just want to play my darts, obviously sign autographs," he told Online Darts.
He described how the crowd affected his conduct on stage over the two nights in Amsterdam. "The past two nights, I’ve done nothing, I’ve just walked off stage without thanking anybody. There’s no point thanking everyone when they are booing me," Littler said.
Despite the hostile environment, Littler prevailed in a last-leg decider against Nathan Aspinall to keep his tournament ambitions intact. He is hoping to become the first man to win all 10 major televised tournaments in a calendar year, having triumphed in the first five.
Welshman Jonny Clayton awaits Littler in the quarter-final on Sunday afternoon.