LITTLER VOWS: IGNORE THE WHISTLERS

By Phil Lanning

LUKE LITTLER says that furious top oche stars have to IGNORE the whistlers.

The world champion won the Premier League night two at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow as a row erupted over fan behaviour.

Littler, 18, and World No.1 Luke Humphries had their final clash almost ruined by the crowd trying to put them off at vital moments.

When referee Kirk Bevins stepped in to tell the moron minority to stop whistling, it then disrupted The Nuke’s throw.

But Littler remained calm during the storm to pick up the £10k prize for his first win since taking the world crown.

When asked about the whistling, he responded: “Obviously, there were a few in particular that were doing it when Luke was throwing.

“Then when Kirk told them to be quiet, it got even worse. And then I missed doubles.

“Luke breaks at 5-4 and I am just like: ‘Kirk, you have made it worse for me’. I’m 5-4 down. But, no, I broke back and held my throw quite strongly.

“But I think it’s best off if they don’t whistle at us. We just want to play our darts.

“They have to ignore it. Obviously, as much as I want the crowd to be respectful of us.

“If they do it to Luke and he misses darts at double, then as a player myself, I’ve got to come back and I’ve got to hit my doubles.

“We all know. We’ve been here a long time. All the fans, they are drinking, they’re all, it’s whatever they want to do. It’s been a long night for them and it’s been a long night for us. But we’ve just got to play our darts.”

Littler admits it might be better for the officials just to let it go in some situations, but he added: “If it is the same as what it was when Kirk said it, then yeah, just leave it.

“Obviously, they have got to step at some point and say something, but that was pretty bad. But I got the win.”

Earlier in the night Gerwyn Price reacted to the crowd and whistled back at the fans.

But Littler wouldn’t resort to anything drastic like the headphones Price wore at the Ally Pally to drown out the crowd noise.

On using earplugs, he added: “Probably not because I just love the crowd. I know it blocks out a little bit, but, the only thing, whenever we’ve got anything in the ears, it’s music. I can’t put earbuds in and there’s music going on!”

Littler is now up to second in the league table, three points behind Humphries who has reached both finals, with a win and defeat.

But the teenager admits he still feels like a new kid in the practice room. He added: “Well, obviously I am the young one.

“A little bit, because these guys, the ones that have been here for 10, 15 years, they’ve got to hit a 110-plus average to beat an 18-year-old.”

The highlight reel of the night was Littler’s 170 finish in the final as he then delivered his famous fisherman celebration.

He said: “Obviously the 170 goes, I’m always going to do the celebration. I said to Emma (Paton) on stage, it’s been a long time coming since I’ve hit one. I was glad to hit one on the final. I think it’s my celebration now.”

Images by Taylor Lanning.