Luke Littler shocks fans as he storms off stage after defeat to Gian van Veen in Premier League Darts

Ed Griffiths
Thu, 02 Apr 2026 21:04:58 +0000

Luke Littler's Premier League Darts homecoming turned sour on Thursday evening as the world champion became embroiled in a fiery on-stage confrontation with Gian van Veen during a dramatic 6-5 quarter-final defeat in Manchester.

The 18-year-old's six-match winning streak came to an abrupt end amid heated scenes.

Littler was seen throwing his arms into the air and making a crying gesture towards his Dutch opponent.

Following Van Veen's winning checkout on double six, the pair exchanged a frosty handshake before Littler stormed off stage muttering to himself.

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The Manchester crowd was stunned by the teenager's behaviour.

The flashpoint occurred in the deciding leg with scores level at 5-5.

Van Veen narrowly missed his attempt at double 15 to clinch victory, then turned to glance at the crowd before catching sight of Littler's reaction.

The Dutchman raised his eyebrows as the world champion gestured animatedly, whipping up the home supporters who promptly began booing Van Veen.

With the pressure mounting, Littler then squandered his own opportunity to seal the match, going inside the wire on double seven.

His composure had deserted him at the crucial moment, allowing Van Veen to step up and calmly nail double six for the win.

Pundit Wayne Mardle offered his assessment of the incident.

He explained: "Gian went inside the 15 and Luke was happy about that. So he kind of gave it the Simon Whitlock well done. You shouldn't do that."

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Mardle described how Van Veen turned around questioning Littler's reaction.

He adding: "I can lip read but I'm not repeating what Luke Littler said. I don't want to hand in my notice!

"You've got to say Gian handled it better because Luke came back to the board and fluffed his lines. He got a bit aggressive on the double seven.

"Gian van Veen won the game in the end. He held it together really well there."

Littler had arrived in Manchester riding a wave of momentum, having secured back-to-back victories in Dublin and Berlin to climb to the summit of the Premier League standings.

The teenager appeared destined for elimination at 4-1 down, and again when trailing 5-3, before mounting a spirited fightback to level proceedings.

Yet despite his remarkable recovery, the world champion has now suffered defeat in both Premier League encounters with Van Veen this season.

The results stand in stark contrast to January's World Championship final, where Littler demolished the Dutchman in emphatic fashion to claim his second world title.