Luke Littler has threatened to boycott future darts tournaments in the Netherlands after facing sustained booing and whistling at the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam, according to The Guardian.
The teenager encountered a hostile crowd during his Friday victory over Dutch player Danny Noppert. The atmosphere intensified the following night during Littler’s last-16 match against Nathan Aspinall, prompting referee Charlie Costorphine to intervene, the newspaper reported.
Littler said he was “100%” prepared to take the same approach in the Netherlands as he has in Germany, where he has already refused to attend European Tour events because of his treatment by supporters. “If the Dutch stay like this, then I’m not going to do any Euro tours over there,” he told Online Darts, as reported by The Guardian.
He said he wanted to travel to tournaments to play and sign autographs, but felt there was little reason to attend if he was being booed. Littler also said he had left the stage without thanking spectators after his recent matches because he did not see the point of doing so while the crowd was jeering him.
Despite the atmosphere, Littler defeated Aspinall in a deciding final leg to remain in contention for a clean sweep of the year’s major televised events. The Guardian reported that the 19-year-old has won the first five of the 10 tournaments and is seeking to become the first man to claim all of them in a calendar year.
Littler’s next opponent is Welshman Jonny Clayton, who awaits in Sunday afternoon’s quarter-final. He has previously said that he will assess whether conditions improve in Germany before deciding whether to return to events there.