Luke Littler indicated previously that Raymond van Barneveld has always been an idol of his. The five-time world champion then tried to get in touch with the teenage sensation, but things didn’t work out as planned.
Van Barneveld said he texted Littler on occasion but did not get a reply, but that he understood because Littler is probably overwhelmed with messages. The incident repeated itself when 'Barney' sent Littler a message to congratulate him on his European Tour triumph in Wieze, but the teenager again seemed to ignore him.
When this story hit the news it caused quite a stir, although as 'Barney' clarifies, all was not as first reported. "It was really weird," said van Barneveld in a recent interview with Online Darts. "The guy [an interviewer] was with me on the phone, and he was talking about Luke Littler. I said, 'Well, he's a really quiet guy, maybe shy. I don't know him that well. I played him in the Worlds but never see him that often. I'm not in the Premier League or World Series. I've only met him a couple of times.'"
"I don't understand, so leave it," Van Barneveld recalls telling the journalist in reference to the ignored texts. "And 'leave it' was translated differently in England [laughs]. And I was thinking, 'Oh wow, I never said that! I never said f-off. Never ever.'"
"It went bad, because fans like Luke Littler of course... And I'm thinking, 'Wow, this is going nowhere,'" the Dutchman concludes. "I never ever said that. . .we're fine [him and Littler], but some of these journalists always try to get the worst out of things, and I hate that. It's not nice."
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