"Anyone who plays me now, it's a cup final for them" - Luke Littler brushes off criticism from Ricardo Pietreczko

Luke Littler tasted success on his European Tour debut the Belgian Darts Open last weekend. 'The Nuke defeated Rob Cross 8-7 in the final, hitting a nine-darter en route to victory.

Wilst their were plenty of reasons to be positive for the 17-year-old, post-tournament the biggest talking point was arguably the on-stage incident after his semi-final win over Ricardo Pietreczko. Pietreczko, unimpressed by the finishing methods of Littler, who went for a 147-finish (treble 19 - double 20 - bull), voiced his displeasure on-stage before later calling Littler arrogant in a post on his official Instagram story.

"In that game, I just didn't know what I did wrong," Littler reflects in conversation with Sky Sports. "I think, ever since I burst onto the scene, every player wants to beat me. Even my family and my manager have said I've always got to be on my A-game because anyone who plays me now, it's a cup final for them."

To the delight of the audience at the Oktoberhallen in Wieze, Belgium Littler put the Pietreczko incident to the back of his mind in style by firing a perfect leg in the final. Now though, attention turns back to the Premier League Darts for Littler.

"I want win a night! But the Premier League is full-on every week. Just got to win that first game, get points in the board and then hopefully build upon it," Littler concludes.