“It would be more of a coincidence if we said it had nothing to do with last week” – Wayne Mardle sees link between Littler’s slump in Brighton and incident with Van Veen

A week after his much-discussed clash with Gian van Veen, Luke Littler has taken another hit. At the Brighton Centre, the reigning world champion exited in the Premier League quarterfinals after a defeat to Stephen Bunting. Notably, Littler recorded an 83.94, his lowest TV average ever in a PDC match.

The evening began restlessly for the 19-year-old. During his walk-on he was met with whistles and boos, and in a poor opening spell the crowd even responded with sarcastic applause. Littler clearly struggled to find his rhythm and never managed to reset.

Bunting, who turned 41 on Thursday, did not fully capitalise on the chances offered. He had multiple opportunities in his opponent’s legs, but with only six doubles from 21 attempts he was far from efficient. Even so, it was enough to seal the win.

It was striking that Littler switched darts several times during the match, a sign he was searching for feel and rhythm. The desired effect never came. Without hitting a single 180 and with an unusually low average, he eventually slipped away quietly. Afterward he sportingly shook Bunting’s hand, but left the stage visibly shaken.

According to analyst and former Premier League player Wayne Mardle, the cause may lie in the aftermath of last week. "I'm assuming tonight was a reaction to last week, although I don't know,” said Mardle. "Littler looked quite flat, there were points where he was lobbing the darts, not petulantly but not with directness he normally throws."

The Englishman called it a logical consequence of the events in Manchester: "It would be more of a coincidence if we said it had nothing to do with last week, it was a knock-on from that. I thought he was going to be okay but he wasn't. He's going to have to get back on the horse soon."

After the match, Bunting showed sympathy for his young compatriot, who took heavy flak from the crowd. "Thankfully, he is human," Bunting told Sky Sports. "It's tough because the crowd was giving him some stick. I like Luke because he's a fantastic lad and I don't like to see that."

Three-time world champion John Part was also critical of Littler’s display. The Canadian saw a player who wasn’t himself: “He looked disinterested. "Stephen did what he had to do. It must have been off-putting watching Luke and how he played. He really was off, you can speculate whatever the reasons.”

Part stressed that Bunting could have won even more convincingly: “For Stephen, he had to get on with it and he could have won the match 6-0. He really should have. The first two legs Luke won, he had no business winning.”

He did add a caveat: "But it is always hard work when you play the world No 1 and world champion. It is always going to be difficult. You can't believe you are getting your chances and that they are playing badly. That is so rare."