Luke Littler claims he was ‘hurt’ in a fan altercation before his Premier League Darts semi-final win over Michael van Gerwen on Thursday night. Security had to jump in and help the 17-year-old after a rowdy supporter yanked on his arm in Belfast which, by Littler’s own admission, put him off before the match.
‘The Nuke’ gets just about the biggest cheer of any darts player when his music blares over the speakers, as it did in Belfast earlier this week. One fan pushed their excitement over the limit, however, by grabbing his arm as he walked towards the stage.
Cameras didn’t show the full altercation but security guards were seen intervening at the SSE Arena. Littler has since spoken out on the surreal incident, admitting it ‘hurt’ his arm and forced him to refocus ahead of his showdown with Van Gerwen.
“I don’t know who he was, he pulled my arm,” explained the youngster. “It hurt a little bit. That’s why, when I went on stage, I didn’t interact with my music.
“I heard everyone singing but I just needed to relax. As soon as [referee] Charlie [Corstorphine] said ‘Game On’, I had to relax myself. My hand is fine. It worked out well.”
Indeed, Littler shook off his pre-match anger and put in a strong performance to down Van Gerwen. He had already battled past defending world champion Luke Humphries earlier in the night, letting out a roar of celebration after coming through 6-5.
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“He so reminds me of Michael [Van Gerwen]. I don’t see a ceiling in his game, I just think that he can play as well as he likes sometimes. Look at the 114 average he had against MVG a few weeks ago, I just see that he can do these amazing things with a set of 22g tungsten.
“It’s just madness what he can do at such a ripe old age of 17. I’ve never seen anyone be like Michael van Gerwen. Probably the closest anyone came, or maybe even better, was Eric Bristow at 17. Not bad names to be connected with.”
