LITTLER: I’M NOT “UNDER PRESSURE”

LUKE LITTLER insists he is not “under pressure” after his opening Premier League defeat.

The world champ faces old foe Luke Humphries in Antwerp on Thursday night in week two of the tournament. 

Littler, 19, lost to Gian van Veen in his first clash of the season in Newcastle but remains defiant ahead of a huge tie with the World No.2. 

He said: “Every stage is different in my opinion, different crowd how bit it is, how small it is. 

“We’ve just got to get used to it early on. 

“I’m not under any pressure, I don’t need to put pressure on myself. It’s week one I lost 6-4 to Gian, last year I lost 6-4 to Michael van Gerwen as well. 

“There’s 15 weeks left, as long as I get into the top four that’s all that matters.”

Littler will have to put up with a “wall of noise” and booing, says ex-pro Chris Mason. 

Speaking on Double Tops sponsored by BetMGM, Mason said: “It’s a typical British thing, we don’t like winners. I’m not surprised he got booed in Newcastle, though, as it’s happened before.

“I was working in Germany and he got a load of stick – and he’s basically now said that unless he really has to he won’t go there anymore. It’s an interesting one as something like 30 per cent of tickets sold at the World Championship are to Germans.

“The culture of booing has worked its way into darts, you just have to look at the stick Gezzy (Gerwyn Price) got.

“If it’s a wall of noise you can play in it, it’s when the whistles and the other sounds come in that it gets tricky. You become very aware of it and, when you throw, you almost wait for it because you know it’s coming.

“I don’t really understand it and I don’t like it. Why are people booing the best player in the world? Let him and the other players do what they do and play at their best.”

Mason also doesn’t believe the Premier League format helps Littler. 

He added: “In his first campaign, he didn’t win a night until the ninth week. After all that hype, it took him quite a lot of time to get going before he, of course, went on to win it.

“I know he won it in 2024 and lost in the final last year, but this format doesn’t really suit him. It’s short and he’s vulnerable, especially in those early matches.

“He takes a bit of time to get going because he’s not a big practicer. He plays himself into form while he’s at a tournament.

“He might have lost in Newcastle but that won’t bother him and he responds to pressure like Phil Taylor did. If you put Phil under pressure he’d find another gear and it would break you – it makes them unplayable and there is nothing you can do.

“It’s never a foregone conclusion but I’m always of the view that, if you don’t get him early, you don’t get him at all.”

Image by TAYLOR LANNING