Luke Littler has fired back with a brutal message after he was accused of showing off following his ‘ridiculous’ decision to play at the World Youth Championship. He took part in the event just days after winning the World Grand Prix and was among the favourites to clinch the title. However, he ended up losing to eventual runner-up Beau Greaves in the semi-finals.
The tournament was open to darts players aged between 16 and 23, meaning Littler was eligible to play. However, his decision to take part was scrutinised by former professional Andy Cornwall, who is now a coach and previously worked with Nathan Aspinall. During an appearance on the Mission Darts Podcast, he suggested that Littler chose to play in an attempt to fuel his ego.
“Ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous,” said Cornwall. “It was a bit like: ‘Look at me, look at me, look at me. Everything is about me’. I didn’t like it one little bit.
“Somebody should have got hold of him and said: ‘You’re doing the wrong thing here, Luke. You’re taking away somebody else’s chance’. You should not be playing in the youth anymore when you’re world champion.”
Littler issued a furious response to those comments on Wednesday, branding Cornwall an ‘absolute helmet of a bloke’ on his Instagram story.
He wrote: “Andy Cornwall (apparently a darts coach and does work for Darts Corner or something) seen he said something about [Stephen] Bunting yesterday about where he stands and stuff and now saying stuff about me, what an absolute helmet of a bloke and I don’t know him.”
It comes just days after Littler took a bizarre swipe at Martin Schindler, who defeated William O’Connor at the German Darts Championship over the weekend.
Discussing his victory, Schindler said: “He started very, very well. I took the first leg, and then there wasn’t much coming from me for a while.
“He was absolutely ruthless, three legs in a row with 180s and 140s. You’re just chasing shadows at that point. But I knew he couldn’t maintain that level for the whole match – not even Luke Littler could – and he didn’t.”
Littler was seemingly offended that Schindler mentioned his name and took to social media to call out his German rival, saying: “Living rent free up there in that head.”
A few hours later, the teenager took aim at Liverpool fans after his beloved Manchester United snatched a dramatic victory at Anfield.
“Yanited, Yanited, Yanited,” wrote Littler. “Where’s the Scousers at, back under your rock you go cause we are Man United and we are never gonna stop.”