"There are two things you can’t beat in your career: the media and the crowd" – Luke Littler advised to apologize after outburst at the crowd

Luke Littler heads into the quarter-finals of the World Darts Championship once again as the standout favorite, but the build-up to his clash with Krzysztof Ratajski is overshadowed this time by his conduct after the previous round.

The 18-year-old world champion and world number one was visibly irritated after his win by the whistling crowd at Alexandra Palace and fired back with a jab that has drawn heavy criticism. Former top darter Vincent van der Voort believes Littler clearly crossed a line.

Van der Voort does not spare the young Englishman on the Darts Draait Door podcast. He says Littler would be wise to publicly walk back his words. “He really should issue a statement saying that wasn’t the intention. Hold his hands up. But he probably won’t do that,” Van der Voort said. In his view, the remark towards the fans was not only unnecessary but downright unwise. “This really isn’t smart from him. The best thing he can do is say it was a silly comment in the heat of the moment.”

Littler’s reaction, in which he suggested after his match that the jeering fans indirectly pay his prize money, carries the risk, according to Van der Voort, that the crowd will turn against him on a more permanent basis. Although he expects this to be limited in the quarter-final against Ratajski, he does see a worrying trend.

“But he does need to be careful. There are two things you can’t beat in your career: the media and the crowd. One day it will hit you, as we’ve seen with Gerwyn Price, Mervyn King, and Paul Nicholson. As long as things are going well, you don’t feel it. But when it goes wrong, it will hit. Price has been broken too.”

According to Van der Voort, playing against a hostile crowd is tough for any darter, but it only becomes truly problematic when it turns into a fixed pattern. Especially for someone whose career still has many years to run.

“Especially when your career has so long to go. Before you know it, it becomes a night out to boo Littler. In the end you lose that battle, right. The media and the crowd aren’t your enemy. Your enemy is on the oche and you have to beat him. That’s the only thing.”

That goes to the heart of Van der Voort’s criticism. Littler possesses exceptional qualities and seems almost untouchable on the oche, but precisely for that reason it is essential, he says, to handle his image carefully. History shows that even the biggest names become vulnerable when the mood around them shifts. “That’s why it’s not smart to treat the fans like this. This wasn’t the wisest moment of his career.”