"PDC need to stop treating him like a baby": Michael van Gerwen teased Luke Littler for being 45 minutes late to Premier League media day
PDC
Michael van Gerwen told the PDC to stop treating Luke Littler like a baby ahead of their World Championship rematch on the opening night of the 2025 Premier League Darts in Belfast.
Van Gerwen said that Littler turned up 45 minutes late for media and needs to learn to be there on time and not be accepted by the powers that be.
"45 minutes late you mean. They (PDC) need to stop treating him like a baby. He's not a baby anymore. It's 18 years old now, he has to learn," said Van Gerwen.
"You have to learn the hard way, it's a professional sport, so you have to be responsible for your actions as well, simple as that. If he turns up late for an interview, I don't really mind, but now seven other people are waiting for him, so that's not really nice."
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But with Luke Littler now being the flavour of the month, 'The Nuke' gets Phil Taylor comparisons and Van Gerwen rubbished them.
“To Phil Taylor? You come on guys."
“Whatever he’s done is great. It's nice. You can't compare it with [Gary] Anderson, [Phil] Taylor, or me yet. Of course, in 10 years’ time we can have a different conversation, but not now.”
“Whatever they do is phenomenal. It’s good for darts in general. But I think it takes away the respect of the Phil Taylors and all the other guys.”
When asked also if he sees any difference playing Littler to Taylor, he was frank with the comparison. “No, it didn’t. Phil [Taylor] was a different kind of animal."
He also was asked about playing him at 18 compared to 16 or 17 and again it was a moot point for Van Gerwen.
"I don't really care, they never treated me different when I was 17 or 19. They still want to beat you. I don't care who I play, men, woman, transgender. I'm there to try and win the game. Whoever comes on my path, Littler, Aspinall, Van Barneveld, Van Duijvenbode. I don't care. You're there to win."
"There's also a bit of an age gap. He talks about FIFA, Football. If I want to talk about Trump being new president, he probably doesn't watch the news. Everyone is different, different interests. That is up to the people."
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- Beau also skipped Players Championships 7 & 8 next week, and PC 3 & 4 four weeks ago. If she next chooses to miss the Women's Series and PC 13 & 14 in mid-April then we can make a fair guess as to her reason.Scoobedybop13-03-2025
- I've commented before,Phil should let us all remember how great he was,and leave your darts in the drawer. Another humiliation will tarnish everything,you couldn't even beat old blokes who you would have beaten before the game started !!rick6712-03-2025
- I've commented before,Phil should let us all remember how great he was,and leave your darts in the drawer. Another humiliation will tarnish everything,you couldn't even beat old blokes who you would have beaten before the game started !!rick6712-03-2025
- Aspinall was a no-show: Carl Sneyd steps in from the Challenge Tour.Scoobedybop11-03-2025
- Likewise, I have always been a fan of Mervyn and with this worry on his mind, it explains why his form and ranking plummeted. It is really sad to hear this, often chatted to Mervyn and Tracey during the Lakeside days, both are lovely people. It does seem naive not acknowledging the fact it was earnings, surely there must be others in the same situation. I really hope the Kings can get through this....would a go fund me be permittedrichieburnettrocks11-03-2025
- I always like Merv,but he does he seems slightly naive with his comments. I wish you all the best, hope you can get sorted,and try and get back to a decent game,a bit of money.....and get rid of the dogs,if that's your main concern,I believe your priorities may be slightly wrongrick6710-03-2025
- What’s with the dogs element to this story, trying to pull at the heart strings? Just goes to show that being a good dart player does not equate to being that bright. Seriously, ‘I thought you didn’t have to pay tax on winnings’ , your a pro dart player and its your line of work, your not playing the lottery or placing a bet. I think it was Phil Taylor who said you should put a third to one side of all winnings into a bank account, obviously Merv was wearing his earplugs at the time.Mysstree10-03-2025
- The thing is... the folks who "humiliated" Taylor in the Seniors Events never really achieved anything in the important events - like Taylor did. Taylor had/has nothing to prove... and beating Taylor after he had retired is of zero value. Taylor in his prime would have made easy work of all of them. Cheers.MrYnyslas197107-03-2025
- Taylor was humiliated in the seniors events,so he really has nothing to lose by playing littler. I think he should put his darts away,and let us remember what a great player he wasrick6706-03-2025
- actually, since you're asking... yes. yes i do.colt06-03-2025