"I was just like, why’s he mentioning me?": Luke Littler found Martin Schindler social media mention bizarre despite misconstrued compliment

Luke Littler safely booked his place in the second round of the 2025 European Championship with a straight-forward win over Raymond van Barneveld in Dortmund — though the 18-year-old admitted it was far from his best performance.

Littler hit a 98 average with a 6-1 win over the doyen of Dutch darts as he continued his progression at the European Championship. He spoke to the media including DartsNews afterwards.

“It wasn’t the best for the first three legs — 19, 18, 17 — which is nowhere near good enough,” Littler said. “But Raymond weren’t showing up and obviously missed them. Then five at double, I come back and hit a 68, then go 11–10, and then some hours to win again.”

The teenager was responding to questions about Van Barneveld’s pre-match comments, with the Dutch legend having described Littler as “the best he’s ever seen.” But Luke said he hadn’t paid much attention.

“Not really, I didn’t even know he said that, so that’s probably a good thing for myself,” he said. “No-one should ever beat themselves up before they get on the stage, because I didn’t show up there — maybe he could’ve gone three or four legs up. But I’m just happy to win it.”

Returning to Germany for the first time since the World Cup, where he suffered a surprise exit against the home team, Littler admitted he was unsure what to expect from the crowd after recent headlines.

“Yeah, I expected the worst and it weren’t too bad,” he smiled. “I took it in my stride. Obviously James [Wade] is next round — don’t know what the crowd will be like for him — but I’ve won a game here now and I want to prove some right and wrong, and hopefully go further in the tournament.”

Reflecting on last year’s early exit, he added: “It’s not good coming to a tournament where the previous year you lost first round. Like I said, you’ve got to prove some right to wrong, and I’ve won a game here now. Hopefully I can win a few more.”

In the days leading up to the event, Littler had been at the centre of some social media back-and-forth, including a post about Martin Schindler which sparked plenty of discussion online.

“No, I’ve not seen him,” Luke said when asked if he’d spoken to Schindler about it. “I’ve seen a lot of people saying it was a compliment and stuff, but maybe I was in the wrong, maybe I wasn’t. I just posted something because he said he’d start for like a 105, 110 average and couldn’t shoot at it. Then for him to say ‘even I can’t do that,’ I was just like, why’s he mentioning me? So I put something on, but yeah, it is what it is.”

Littler admitted he’s “always on social media,” but says he tries not to let criticism affect him. “I don’t tend to really bite back at people, but when I do, I do,” he laughed. “Most of the comments — they love to see me bite back. Some people message me saying don’t give them the attention, but I kind of have to. But yeah, social media’s probably one of the things I’m on the most. Other than that, I’m just happy to have won here.”

Asked why it’s so difficult for him to stay away from the online world, Littler smiled: “I probably shouldn’t be doing it, but I’m young. I’m always on social media, and some people are like, ‘oh, it’s getting to him,’ but I just laugh at it. You shouldn’t let it get that deep — it’s just fun.”

The conversation then turned to Beau Greaves, who recently defeated Littler in the World Youth Championship — the first time she’s ever beaten him. Luke was full of praise for his long-time friend and rival.

“I’ve known Beau for a very long time,” he said. “I think that’s the first victory she’s had over me — a fantastic game. But even like Gian said, there were no eyes on him, so he just got his head down and made the Grand Slam for next year. Everyone was looking at me and Beau, but it was a brilliant game.”

“There was one person on social media saying, ‘Why does Beau need to come on to the tour?’ and I replied — whatever I said, I can’t remember — but she’s good enough. Fallon’s good enough, Lisa Ashton’s good enough, everyone’s good enough. But yeah, I think Beau’s the real deal.”

With the European Championship title up for grabs, there’s an additional incentive for Littler this week — the chance to become world number one less than two years after joining the PDC circuit.

“Yeah, obviously it’s not been very long since I’ve been on the tour,” he said. “I saw it on Sky Sports — it came up on my feed when I was scrolling down, so I had a little look. But I can only beat what’s in front of me. Obviously, James Wade’s next and then potentially Luke [Humphries] if he wins his game, but I can’t really speak ahead. It’s in sight and I’ve just got to get my head down and win the next few games.”

Asked if becoming number one might mean even more than lifting the trophy itself, Littler didn’t hesitate.

“Definitely,” he said. “Whatever happens, happens. I can only beat what’s in front of me, I can only play the board. But yeah, it’s definitely in sight. My first game here wasn’t comfortable, it wasn’t the best, but hopefully I can kick on tomorrow.”

Despite his youth, Littler has already experienced a full range of the sport’s challenges — from the Pro Tour grind to major TV finals — and he admits nothing beats playing under the lights.

“Yeah, definitely,” he said when asked if he prefers the stage. “Obviously there’s some players who perform really well on the Pro Tour and then get to the stage and don’t play very well, but yeah — the main stage is definitely better than the Pro Tour.”