Luke Littler has taken to social media to hit back at Gian van Veen following their fiery encounter during night nine of the Premier League Darts at Manchester's AO Arena on Thursday evening.
The 19-year-old world number one suffered a narrow 6-5 defeat to his Dutch rival, ending his hopes of claiming a third consecutive Premier League victory.
Both players appeared visibly frustrated with one another's behaviour as tensions escalated towards the conclusion of their closely fought contest.
The teenager has since faced significant backlash online for his reaction to the loss, with the incident sparking a war of words between the two competitors that has now spilled onto Instagram.
TRENDING
Stories
Videos
Your Say
In his post-match interview with Sky Sports, the 23-year-old Dutchman detailed what had triggered the confrontation between the pair.
"I'm on 90, I miss double 15 on the inside, and then I see him celebrating towards the crowd. I don't think that's normal. And then he also makes that crying gesture," Van Veen explained.
The Dutch player acknowledged Littler's exceptional talent but was unimpressed by his conduct on the night.
Luke Littler has taken to social media to hit back at Gian van Veen following their fiery encounter during night nine of the Premier League Darts at Manchester's AO Arena on Thursday evening
|PA
"He's a fantastic darts player, but today he showed he's not a good loser. Celebrating a miss from your opponent, that really annoys me," he said.
"That's why I gave him a look. The fact he then misses three darts at a double, that's his problem."
Van Veen went on to describe Littler's celebration of his missed double as "out of order," revealing he was furious when his opponent subsequently failed to hit three attempts at double seven.
LATEST SPORTS NEWS:
Luke Littler's pointed message on social media
|"Then he looked at me like I was the problem. He is probably fuming. That's my perspective. His perspective is probably different," the Dutchman added.
Despite the clash, Van Veen expressed admiration for his rival: "I love Luke to bits. All the attention he has brought to the sport is phenomenal, but today was my day."
Littler, however, wasted little time in responding to the interview, posting two messages on his Instagram story.
His first post showcased his career achievements with the caption: "Goodnight god bless thank you Manchester."
The teenager then shared a screenshot of Van Veen's comments accompanied by three laughing emojis.
The teenager then shared a screenshot of Van Veen's comments accompanied by three laughing emojis
|Sky Sports pundit Wayne Mardle offered his assessment of the flashpoint, suggesting he understood precisely what had unfolded between the two players.
"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?'" Mardle explained.
The pundit noted he could read Littler's lips but declined to repeat what was said, joking he did not wish to resign from his position.
Mardle concluded that Van Veen had conducted himself more appropriately during the exchange.
"He got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He won't be doing that again!" he added.