Luke Littler has been slammed for his behaviour at the Australian Darts Masters, with the world champion labelled ‘disrespectful’. Littler was among the high-profile names competing at the exhibition event Down Under, with Luke Humphries, Gerwyn Price and Josh Rock also involved.
The teen was paired against Haupai Puha for his opening match of the World Series tournament, with Littler just about progressing by virtue of a 6-5 win. It was closer than Littler would’ve been hoping for, with Puha having led twice throughout the 11-leg contest.
But it was during the 11th leg of the match where Littler was left with egg on his face, with the recently crowned World Matchplay champion having started his visit with 291 points left to score. Having two treble 20s to kick things off, the crowd were waiting with bated breath for the third arrow to nestle beside it, but eyebrows were raised when Littler went for the single one instead.
Littler opted for that route so he could leave 170 and have an opportunity to check out with the ‘Big Fish’, but it didn’t go to plan, as he narrowly missed the bullseye with his final dart. Puha went on to level the match, forcing it into a deciding leg, with Littler just about getting himself across the line.
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The move wasn’t to the taste of some, with @Wim_NL180 writing on X: “Single 1 on 171 on purpose to leave 170 is just disrespectful towards your opponent imo.”
@danstapleton89 added: “Absolutely. I understand it’s a glorified exhibition but Haupai is a tour card holder and this comp will mean a lot to him due to where it’s being held.”
@DanJones3142 said: “How are people defending this? He’s playing professional darts and it’s obviously not playing to the best of your ability.”
He was quizzed on the move post-match, with Littler saying: “I don’t even know. I think just for myself. Obviously, at that point, I was 5-4 up. Maybe I should have tried to hit the 180 because I knew Haupai had the darts in the last leg. But I just felt I’d try and leave it and finish it. If not, I’d have to break the throw in the last leg.”
Littler will have to be on his A-game in the quarter-finals though, given he’s been drawn against local hero Damon Heta. The Aussie will be looking to claim the biggest scalp of them all when he takes on the king of Alexandra Palace in his home nation on Saturday.
Elsewhere, Matchplay semi-finalist Rock will play Stephen Bunting, Price and Chris Dobey will go head-to-head, and Humphries has been put up against Mike De Decker in the last eight.