DARTS ACE SHOCKED BY BERLIN BOOS TO LITTLER
04/04/2025 By Aaron Nijjar
By Aaron Nijjar
MAX HOPP has hit out at the negative treatment Luke Littler received at the Premier League in Berlin.
Teen sensation Littler crashed out in the quarter-final after suffering a surprise 6-2 defeat to Chris Dobey.
League leader Littler was treated to a hostile atmosphere during Night Nine in Berlin.
Some sections of the crowd booed the world champion, who interacted with the audience and made gestures.
Former European Championship semi-finalist Max Hopp, who acted as a pundit at the event, was surprised to hear boos and was critical of the anti-Littler sentiment.
He said: “I heard it too. He was interacting a lot with the crowd, making gestures and engaging with them.
“But I don’t understand why people would boo him.
“They should be thanking him! The fact that prize money is about to skyrocket is all because of him.”
Some sections of the crowd had already showed their dissatisfaction before Littler had even thrown his first dart.
That is because his opponent Dobey walked on to a different song – Gigi D’Agostino’s L’Amour Toujours.
‘Hollywood’ has used the song before but in Germany it did not go down well because it has been co-opted by far-right groups in the country.
World No. 2 Littler gave a brief thumbs-up to the German crowd as he walked off stage dejected at the result.
Five-time major winner Littler was not his usual self after averaging just 93.28 – his lowest in the tournament over the last nine weeks.
Darting legend Wayne Mardle could not believe what he was witnessing from top-of-the-table Littler.
He asked on Sky Sports: “What is going on?”
Mark Webster, the 2008 Lakeside world champion, added: “Luke was poor on the doubles, just 15 per cent, you cannot legislate for that. Chris did his job.
“An uncharacteristic performance from Luke, he looked disappointed at the end.
“He left himself too much work to do. A big boost for other players. It’s good to see the best players in the world looking fragile.”
Image by Taylor Lanning.
