(VIDEO) "He’s a fantastic darts player, but today he showed he’s not a good loser": No love lost as Littler and Van Veen come to blows in Premier League Darts as Dutchman responds

Luke Littler and Gian van Veen came to blows during their Premier League Darts Night Nine clash in Manchester on Thursday night as it wasn't only the darts on the oche that were causing a stir in a closely ran tie.

Littler and Van Veen both left the stage annoyed at each other with no culprit owning up to their side of the blame but with Van Veen taking the spoils anyway as he moved through to the semi-finals shortly while Littler heads home in this week's Premier League Darts.

The cause of the issue came as Littler appeared to be celebrating when Van Veen missed his first matchdart on 90 something that he later confirmed on Viaplay and was left wrankled by the dramatic conclusion. Van Veen appeared to notice this and looked at the crowd first before then looking over at Littler noticing him celebrating.

Littler himself got annoyed at Van Veen and lifted his arms in the arm to try and buoy the crowd his direction in a Premier League Darts night that is technically home turf for The Nuke. But in the end, it was Van Veen who had the last laugh as he sealed the win.

Van Veen went for a handshake and Littler didn't look him in the eyes so no love lost from either side of the duo that made the World final this past January and for Littler, it won't be a nightly win in Manchester that is for sure.

Van Veen gave his account of the incident in an interview with Viaplay, expressing clear frustration over his opponent’s behaviour. “I’m on 90, I miss double 15 on the inside, and then I see him celebrating towards the crowd. I don’t think that’s normal. And then he also makes that crying gesture… He’s a fantastic darts player, but today he showed he’s not a good loser.”

He was particularly irritated by the reaction to his missed dart. “Celebrating a miss from your opponent, that really annoys me. That’s why I gave him a look. The fact he then misses three darts at a double, that’s his problem.”

For Van Veen, the victory carried extra weight given his recent struggles with kidney stones. “The last few weeks have been really tough. So to beat Luke Littler now feels very good. The way it happened doesn’t really matter to me.”