Man United fan Luke Littler is booed by the Leeds crowd – after being jeered at Liverpool last month – as he loses in the semi-final to Michael van Gerwen at a Premier League event
- Luke Littler was jeered by fans at Leeds during a night of Premier League darts
- He had suffered a similar fate at Liverpool due to his status as a Manchester United fan.
- Littler, 17, hammered Peter Wright before being crushed by Michael van Gerwen
Luke Littler covered his ears and headed towards the oche as boos rained down from the crowd in Leeds on Thursday night.
The Manchester United fan faced a tidal wave of cheers and jeers as he turned out for the 15th night of the Premier League Darts season.
Littler, 17, is developing a thick skin after facing similar derision at Liverpool in April, where he excited fans after the Reds’ 2-0 defeat to Everton.
In front of a cheering crowd of Leeds supporters – United’s historic rivals – Littler saw his grip on the Premier League pedestal loosen.
The Nuke beat Peter Wright 6-1 in the quarter-finals, but succumbed to Michael van Gerwen by the same scoreline in the last four.
Luke Littler had the perfect response when booed by fans at Leeds on night 15 of the Premier League Darts
Although there were plenty of cheers, there were plenty of jeers throughout the night as Leeds fans made their feelings known.
World champion Luke Humphries eliminated Van Gerwen 6-5 in the final to narrow the gap to Littler to five points.
Littler (38 pts), Humphries (33 pts) and Van Gerwen (27 pts) have all secured play-off places while Nathan Aspinall and MIchael Smith will battle it out in the final at the O2 Arena on May 23.
The teenager wasted his first five chances to score a hat-trick, drawing boos from the crowd, all too eager to give him the stick.
However, he finally scored a hat-trick in his sixth attempt and made sure to hit back at his detractors, turning to face them, clenching his fist and smiling.
He knocked out Wright in the quarterfinals, leaving one pundit speculating about his opponent’s future.
“Peter Wright is in trouble. It’s a walk for Luke Littler,” Mark Webster told Sky Sports.
“Wright just needs this Premier League campaign to end. This might be the last time we see him in the Premier League, you never know. It’s a great end to the season for him.
While Littler won 22 games in a stunning debut season, Wright only had two victories.
Littler beat Peter Wright 6-1 in the quarter-finals in a stunning start to the evening.
However, Michael van Gerwen defeated Luke Littler before losing to Luke Humphries in the final.
Van Gerwen came out of the traps against Littler, hitting an instant 180 and taking the first leg.
This stirred up some thunder in his opponent, with Littler throwing his first maximum and maintaining a triple-digit score to win the return match.
From there, however, it all went downhill, as Littler lost the next five stages only to emerge from the night groaning.
