Luke Littler should have his phone taken away – his latest bust-up shows a lack of maturity

Apr 9, 2026 - 12:45

Former darts star Vincent van der Voort has a simple solution to set Luke Littler on the straight and narrow… take away his phone.

Littler fell to a 6-5 quarter-final defeat to Gian van Veen in the Premier League in Manchester last week.

Gian van Veen and Luke Littler shake hands — Neither man was happy with the other following the end of their 11-leg thriller

With the contest level at 5-5, ‘The Nuke’ had a match dart, but threw below the wire on double 7.

Van Veen then missed his first match dart, and took a brief pause to compose himself, which Littler was not happy with.

The 19-year-old made an angry gesture for his rival to hurry up, which was caught by the cameras.

Littler then had another chance to wrap up proceedings, but misfired on two more match darts in the before Van Veen claimed victory.

After the match, Littler offered a quick handshake before making a quick exit.

Van Veen wasn’t pleased with Littler’s antics, telling ViaPlay: “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.”

Speaking with Sky Sports, Van Veen added: “Then he looked at me like I was the problem. 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.”

Luke Littler making a crying gesture — Littler gestured for Van Veen to hurry up in their 11-leg thriller

Luke Littler makes a crying gesture against Gian van Veen — He proceeded to do a crying gesture after missing a match dart

Littler added fuel to the fire on social media, as the teen darts star took to Instagram to upload a screenshot of his tournaments he has won, with the caption: “Goodnight god bless thank you Manchester.”

He then took things one step further, re-sharing a post with Van Veen’s comments from the night with three laughing emojis.

‘Take his phone away’

Former UK Open finalist Van der Voort has since weighed in on the rivalry between Littler and Van Veen.

And the Dutchman believes the simple solution is for Littler to not have access to his phone after matches.

Speaking on the Darts Draait Door podcast, he said: “It was 5–5. Van Veen misses 134 on double 7—just one dart. Then Littler steps up for 90 to win the match.

“He hits triple 20, then goes inside on 15, so he leaves double 15, but hits single 15.

Vincent van der Voort of Netherlands reacts during his Third Round match against Luke Humphries — Vincent van der Voort has a simple solution to set Littler on the straight and narrow

“Normally you’d be annoyed and reset. But Van Veen turns away, and at that moment he sees Littler gesture to the crowd like, ‘I’m getting another chance.’

“Then Littler reacts too aggressively afterwards – that’s where he goes wrong. He makes it bigger than it needed to be.

“After the match, he gives a kind of ‘Kevin [Painter] handshake’ – you know, one of those quick handshakes without looking at the other person.

“If Littler had just said afterwards, ‘That wasn’t smart,’ it would’ve been nothing.

“But then he continues on social media, showing off what he’s won… but yeah, he’s still a kid.

Luke Littler is pictured during his Premier League Darts Night 7 final match with Gerwyn Price — Littler is currently sitting top of the Premier League Darts table having won three nights

“It suggests he might not have the right people around him to tell him, ‘Don’t do that.’ That’s the real issue. Someone should just take his phone away for a bit – it’s not that complicated.”

Van der Voort added: “He’s still only 19-years-old, but he’s competing at the top level now, among adults. So he’ll be judged like one.

“If you’re winning everything, you start to feel like you can do anything. That’s normal.

“You don’t notice the pressure or the crowd. But when results drop, it becomes a different story.

“Look at Gerwyn Price – he knows what it’s like when the crowd turns against you every week. It can really affect you.”

Night 10 of the 2026 Premier League takes place in Brighton on Thursday night.

Gian van Veen reacts during the Premier League darts in Newcastle last month — Van Veen is sitting in fifth spot out of eight heading into Night 10

Van Veen will face fellow Dutchman Michael van Gerwen in their quarter-final clash, while Littler takes on Stephen Bunting.

Van Veen and Littler could resume their rivalries in the semi-finals having been drawn in the same half of the bracket.

In the other two quarter-final showdowns, Luke Humphries meets Jonny Clayton, while Gerwyn Price, who triumphed last week, comes up against Josh Rock.