Luke Littler branded sore loser by rival – and immediately fires back on social media

Luke Littler has taken aim at Gian van Veen after the Dutch star branded him ‘not a good loser’.

The explosive fallout stemmed from a spicy end to their Premier League contest in Manchester on Thursday.

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With the contest level at 5-5, Littler had a match dart but pinned it below the wire on double 7.

Van Veen then missed his first match dart and took a brief pause, something Littler was not happy with as he made a brutal crying gesture.

Littler had another opportunity to wrap up proceedings in their quarter-final match but misfired on two more match darts.

The Dutch giant ensured Littler wouldn’t have another visit to the oche when he landed double 6 to prevail 6-5 on the night.

But the drama was far from done, as Littler offered a quick handshake and made a speedy exit off the stage.

It rounded out a rather ugly sequence of events at the oche, with Van Veen, who beat Josh Rock in the semi-final before losing 6-2 to Gerwyn Price in the final, far from impressed by his rival’s actions.

Van Veen: ‘He is probably fuming’

Breaking down the fiery exchange to Viaplay, Van Veen said: “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.

“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.

“That’s why I gave him a look. The fact he then misses three darts at a double, that’s his problem.”

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Van Veen echoed a similar sentiment when speaking to English broadcaster Sky Sports, labelling Littler’s celebrations of him missing a match dart ‘out of order’.

“Then he looked at me like I was the problem,” Van Veen said.

“He is probably fuming.

“That is my perspective. His perspective is probably different.

“I love Luke to bits. All the attention he has brought to the sport is phenomenal, but today was my day.”

Littler lets rip on social media

It was then Littler’s turn to pour fuel on the fire via social media.

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Instagram @lukethenukelittler

Taking to Instagram, Littler uploaded a screenshot of his tournaments won on Wikipedia and shared it on his story with the caption: “Goodnight god bless thank you mManchester.”

‘The Nuke’ then took things further, as he re-shared a post featuring quotes from Van Veen on the night and added three laughing emojis.

Littler and Van Veen’s rivalry could be ramped up to even further heights next Thursday as the Premier League heads to Brighton.

The duo could meet in the semi-finals having been drawn in the same half of the bracket.

However, they have to win their quarter-final matches first as Littler faces Stephen Bunting while Van Veen takes on fellow Dutchman Michael van Gerwen.