Luke Littler’s rivals accused of not ‘genuinely’ wanting to beat him by darts star
Darts star Vincent van der Voort is ‘fed up’ with Luke Littler’s dominance after his latest PDC major triumph.
However, the Dutchman admits it is not the world No.1’s fault and instead his rivals do not ‘genuinely’ want to beat him.
His comments come after Littler became the first player for ten years to successfully defend the UK Open.
The 12-time PDC major winner beat James Wade 11-7 in the final in Minehead on Sunday.
It came just three days after he had picked up his first nightly win of this year’s Premier League.
Littler’s UK Open victory saw him scoop £120,000 in prize money as he extended his lead at the top of the world rankings.
Van der Voort reacted to the tournament on the latest episode of the Darts Draait Door podcast.
The 2007 UK Open runner-up admitted: “I’m getting a bit fed up with it now.
“But it’s not his fault. I find it more worrying that the top players don’t show up against him. That bothers me more.
“I don’t know if it’s that they’re already lying on their backs thinking: you’ve won. But none of them play their best match against him.
“That is worrying. You should at least feel he’s being pushed to the limit. And if he’s still better, fine. But he doesn’t even have to play that well to win.
“He really wasn’t at his best. They didn’t show up. And when I hear the interviews, Littler gets so many compliments again.
“Then I think: we need players who genuinely want to beat him.”
Van der Voort’s claims do not extend to all of Littler’s rivals, though, with Gerwyn Price remaining a serious threat in the Dutch Destroyer’s eyes.
He added: “Then you end up with Price. He’s got it. He wants to win at all costs. Shame he didn’t reach the final.
“We need more players like that. Players who can bring their best level against him. Otherwise it’s made far too easy for him.”
Littler and Price will meet in the quarter-finals on night six of the Premier League.
The tournament heads to Nottingham on Thursday night, with Luke Humphries or Gian van Veen to come in the semi-finals.
Teenage sensation Littler will be hoping for a more explosive start to the night after he took time to get going at the UK Open.
The 19-year-old averaged below 95 in each of his opening matches of the tournament, including a 93.68 in the fifth round against Kevin Doets.
However, Littler was still able to see off the Dutchman in the end as he won the match 10-8.
Van der Voort believes his compatriot could have done more, though, explaining: “Doets, that would have been great if he’d nicked it. But he also should have pulled further ahead early on.
“That’s the pressure. He sat around a 90 average for a long time and ended on 97.
“Littler was only around 93, but even then he couldn’t pull away. They can hold themselves accountable for that.
“He wasn’t even brilliant this tournament. You had the sense he was there for the taking.
“But if everyone fails to play the game they want against him, he still wins. Then you see he’s so far ahead of the rest.”
Doets had taken a 2-0 lead against Littler after breaking his throw at the first attempt.
However, he was unable to maintain the advantage during their back-and-forth encounter.
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