Luke Littler has suggested that he will boycott all events in Germany until October’s European Tour finale. ‘The Nuke’ evidently did not enjoy his trip to Munich after being thrashed by Gian van Veen in the semi-finals of the German Darts Grand Prix.
Littler beat fellow youngster Cam Crabtree on Sunday to see him through to Monday’s play. He marched on towards another handsome payday with wins over Joe Cullen and Peter Wright, but then came unstuck in a meeting with highly-rated 22-year-old Van Veen.
The reigning world champion posted a 95.78 average which was dwarfed by Van Veen’s impressive 110.81. And the Dutchman booked his spot in the final at a canter, nailing double 16 to win 7-4.
A matter of minutes after his exit from the tournament was confirmed, Littler posted a picture of the footwell in the back of a car on Instagram, captioned: “Shouldn’t have been in Munich but had to play anyway. Next one in Germany for me is Dortmund and I am glad to say that.”
Fan-favourite Littler found himself in unfamiliar territory during his run to the German Darts Grand Prix semis, as large parts of the crowd backed his opponents. The 18-year-old did not look pleased when they chanted Wright’s name during the quarter-finals, and he didn’t even acknowledge the audience after the Van Veen defeat.
The European Tour will return to Germany for the European Darts Grand Prix early next month, the European Darts Open on the last weekend of May, the Baltic Sea Darts Open in July and the German Darts Championship in October.
But Littler looks primed to miss all four of them and only return to Germany for the European Tour’s season finale in Dortmund. Earlier this month, the teenager admitted that he struggled to cope with animosity from the crowd after a night of Premier League Darts in Berlin.
“I had a little headloss moment, as some of us players do,” he said. “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.
“I got booed in Hildesheim last year against Peter Wright on the European Tour. I was flying and then they started booing me and I lost. It’s something we’ve all got to deal with. Obviously, the Germans mustn’t like us English.”
