LUKE LITTLER angered one outspoken darts star as he booked his spot in the World Darts Championship semi-final.
Littler, 17, came up trumps with a 5-2 win over Nathan Aspinall on Wednesday night, securing a spot in the last four to play against Stephen Bunting.
However, there was one repeated gesture during the match which left Dutchman Vincent Van der Voort annoyed.
Littler and Aspinall are known to be good friends, but the pairs repeated fist-bumping in their game fuelled the ire of the 49-year-old.
Instead, the Dutch Destroyer prefers the more fiery aspect of player rivalries, as seen in the match between Chris Dobey and Gerwyn Price.
In a bid to complete a comeback from 4-2 down, Iceman Price tried to get inside Dobey’s head with loud screaming and dancing between legs.
Speaking on the Darts Draait Door podcast, Van Der Voort said: “It’s kind of a character.
“That loud screaming in between, then laughing and then dancing. It’s someone you come to a venue like that for anyway.
“Is there always something. You can cheer him on, boo him; it’s always good with him.
“That’s actually how it should be anyway. At least he’s someone who wants to compete. You shouldn’t just let him lead you to the slaughter, after all.”
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He continued: “I’d rather have that than Littler against Aspinall running around fist-bumping each other after every set.
“With the fist-bumping I’m done at a certain point. Afterwards you’re just okay with each other, but at that point just try to have a little fight with each other.”
With ten titles in his first year in the sport and being ranked at No.4 in the world, Van der Voort believes some rivals have a fear of Littler and need to do something to shift the game in their favour.
He added: “I think Littler is in such a phase now that a lot of players already have fear of him beforehand.
“That they feel they can’t miss anything and have to play fantastic. Whatever the real greats, like Michael van Gerwen and Phil Taylor, had.
“Then you have to pump yourself up so much, and if that doesn’t work, then you think: there is no way to win from this.”
Here is all the prize money Luke Littler has won so far after his Grand Slam of Darts victory:
World Championship 2023 – £200,000
Grand Slam of Darts 2024 – £150,000
European Tour – £91,000
Player Championships events – £71,500
UK Open 2023 + 2024 – £17,500
World Matchplay – £10,000
World Grand Prix – £7,500
European Championship – £7,500
(Unranked) Premier League Darts – £315,000
