I had a little headloss moment, as some of us players do,” he told Oche180. “I just don’t get it, and I can’t explain it. Obviously, you do your walk-on, but then as soon as I got on stage, I started getting booed.”
The 18-year-old claimed he was noticing a pattern to the crowd reaction overseas. However, he also conceded that for the likes of him and Humphries, dealing with difficult crowds has to come with the territory, especially when you’re English and playing in Germany.
“I got booed in Hildesheim last year against Peter Wright on the European Tour,” he continued. I was flying and then they started booing me and I lost. Even when I went 1-0 up, they still didn’t like it. He then went 5-1 up and, yeah, one of them moments.
“It’s something we’ve all got to deal with. For myself, obviously, certain people in the crowd aim it at certain players. Me and Luke Humphries, we get it quite a lot. Obviously, the Germans mustn’t like us English.”
Littler isn’t the only star to have experienced issues in the country this month. In his post-match interview after the International Darts Open in Riesa, Nathan Aspinall hit out at spectators, saying he didn’t understand their negative behaviour.
The reigning world champion has also been jeered in UK venues, most notably in Liverpool. However, he reacted to that reception jovially, with much of the crowd noise in jest, given his support for rival football side Manchester United.
