Luke Littler set to miss darts tournament after explosive row with Gian van Veen

Jack Otway
Sat, 04 Apr 2026 09:08:43 +0000

Luke Littler is set to miss the German Darts Grand Prix this weekend, with his absence from that competition coming after an explosive row with Gian van Veen.

On Thursday night, the AO Arena in Manchester became the backdrop for a surprisingly venomous exchange between the two players.

Tensions peaked when Van Veen missed a match dart at double 15. Littler, rather than maintaining his composure, immediately turned to the crowd to celebrate the miss, whipping the home fans into a frenzy.

When the Dutchman looked back in disbelief at the breach of usual etiquette, 'The Nuke' responded with an aggressive 'crying' gesture, mocking his opponent’s frustration.

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Ultimately, however, his decision backfired.

Littler subsequently fluffed three match darts of his own at double seven. Van Veen held his nerve to check out on double six, securing a 6–5 victory.

Post-match, a 'fuming' Van Veen branded Littler a 'bad loser,' while the teenager doubled down on social media, responding to the criticism with laughing emojis.

Now, Littler is set to be absent from the German Darts Grand Prix this weekend.

However, his absence has nothing to do with the spat from a couple of days ago. Instead, the 19-year-old has chosen to spend this weekend resting while he recovers from the gruelling darts schedule.

This weekend's competition will mark the second European Tour event the youngster has chosen to skip in Germany this year.

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It's an open secret that he's not enjoyed the experience of playing in front of German fans, having been booed in the past.

Van Veen, and compatriot Michael van Gerwen, will play this weekend.

Likewise fellow Premier League stars Jonny Clayton and Josh Rock.

Meanwhile, darts commentator Wayne Mardle said on Thursday night that he thought Van Veen handled the incident better than his teenage rival.

"I know exactly what happened," Mardle explained. "Van Veen went inside on D15 and Luke was happy about that so kind of gave it the Simon Whitlock 'well done'.

"You shouldn't do that and as he has done that, Gian has turned around thinking 'why did you do that?'

"I can lip read but I won't repeat what Luke said as I don't want to hand in my notice! You have got to say that Gian handled it better."

He added: "Luke did something he shouldn't have done and that was giving it this (celebration) but what he didn't expect was Gian to see him.

"He got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He won't be doing that again!"