‘Crying in his Bentley’ – Luke Littler won’t regret hitting back at Ally Pally crowd, he’s done nothing wrong

Luke Littler has been defended after he hit back at the Ally Pally crowd for booing him during the World Darts Championships.

The crowd vocally supported Littler’s opponent, 2018 champion Rob Cross, during the 18-year-old’s last-16 victory.

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The reigning World Champion came under fire for comments made in the aftermath of that win.

“I’m not bothered [by the booing]. Really not bothered. You guys pay for tickets and you pay for my prize so thanks for booing me,” he told Sky Sports.

“No-one wanted me to win but I proved them wrong yet again.”

The teenager doubled down on his comments to talkSPORT before later admitting he lost his head with the comments he made on stage.

He can probably expect more boos from the Ally Pally crowd when he takes to the stage on New Year’s Day, but that will only fuel his fire.

talkSPORT’s reaction to Littler

Darts major winner Paul Nicholson defended Littler for his comments and told the talkSPORT Darts YouTube channel: “I’m not sure he’s made a mistake. I think we’ve all said something in the heat of the moment that we might regret. 

“But at the same time, I don’t think he regrets it. What happened in that match is that Rob Cross tried to control the pace of the game.

“He tried to be a bit more animated than usual. He was trying to play the semi-final from 2017 again from Van Gerwen. 

“It didn’t work because towards the end of the game, he just played darts and he didn’t show the celebrations anymore, especially when he won another set. It was a case of, I’m going to try this against him.

“It didn’t work. So I’m just going to try and beat him face to face. That didn’t work either. Nothing works.”

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Former BDO World Championship semi-finalist Chris Mason argued that Littler actually handled the booing well.

Mason said: “I think because Rob Cross produced something of a comeback, they wanted it to go all the way.

“This is the one element of the sport which grates with me. It should be the best player, not who has the most support. Having support is massive and massively helpful.

“We’ve seen that many times here. But then the negative of that is that those same people will put you off by whistling and booing and screaming and shouting. 

“I thought he dealt with it very well. It’s about time a player stood up and said, you know what, you crack on lads.

“I’m sure he’s crying in his Bentley right now.”

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He added: “We’ve got to remember. He’s an 18-year-old boy who’s been put on this pedestal. Most 18-year-olds are sat in their mum’s box room writing nonsense about him. He’s up there earning millions of quid.

“Listen, why can’t he say what he wants?”

Littler returns to the stage on Thursday, when he will face Poland’s Krzysztof Ratajski.