"In the end it’s just loud—whether it’s booing or cheering" — Gabriel Clemens puts the boos against Luke Littler into perspective from a player point of view

The reception for Luke Littler on Night 11 of the Premier League Darts in Rotterdam has once again sparked debate about booing in darts. While the 19-year-old world champion faced some critical reactions from the crowd, Gabriel Clemens has now put the situation into perspective from an active pro’s viewpoint—and appeared far more relaxed than many observers might expect.

On the Darts auf die 1 podcast, the “German Giant” discussed with Robert Marijanovic and Marcel Althaus how whistles affect players on stage—and why such moments are often less dramatic for players than they seem from the outside.

Clemens knows these scenes from his own experience. “I got booed in Holland once when I played Gian van Veen. It was a bit uncomfortable—but I won, so it was all good,” he said with a laugh.

In general, the German top player does not attach too much importance to booing. “It’s not bad at all. In the end it’s just loud—whether it’s booing or cheering.”

From his perspective, other forms of disruption are far more problematic. “The only things that bother you are the heckles or the whistling—or when they throw money onto the stage. That’s happened too. If only they’d throw notes,” Clemens joked. “It’s really just that whistling in between that’s annoying. Everything else—be it loud booing or loud cheering—is relatively irrelevant.”

His view matches the impressions from Rotterdam, where Littler was received critically during the walk-on but conditions were largely fair in the decisive moments of the match. Marcel Althaus echoed that assessment: “The booing at the start—he’d had beef with Gian van Veen, sure, then I can understand it. Cheering every dart that doesn’t hit treble 20 is a bit unnecessary, I think. But there wasn’t excessive whistling when he was on the doubles—so it didn’t really cross into the blatantly unfair.”

For Clemens, Littler’s situation is not unusual. He sees it as a typical pattern in elite sport. “Isn’t it also a bit because he’s dominating or just so strong? Phil Taylor was pretty unpopular in his prime, Michael van Gerwen similar, Gerwyn Price in his best years as well. People always want to see the underdog win.”

Althaus also confirmed that a player’s reception can change over a career. “Yeah, until he’s no longer an underdog. Then it flips. Just like with van Gerwen: before his breakthrough in 2012, 2013, he was the crowd favorite. Once you’re world number one for four or five years, that fades.”

Marijanovic also underlined the status Littler has now reached in the sport. “I think this bashing of Littler is a bit over the top. Let’s be honest: You’ve got a choice between two exhibitions—one with Gian van Veen, the other with Luke Littler. No matter how much you don’t like him, you’d still go to Littler, because he’s simply the absolute top star right now. He’s already lifted this sport a fair bit.”