“Why are people booing the best player in the world?” - Luke Littler receives support from Chris Mason after jeers

Luke Littler has regularly faced booing from the crowd in recent weeks during Premier League nights. Much to the disbelief of former pro and analyst Chris Mason, who believes the teenage sensation deserves respect for his achievements.

The world number one, only nineteen years old, currently sits fifth in the table after one win from the first two rounds. On Thursday night in Glasgow, Littler will at least collect his second point of the campaign, as illness to Michael van Gerwen has handed “The Nuke” a direct place in the semi-finals.

Mason is visibly irritated by the behavior of sections of the crowd. He says booing a dominant player is a familiar phenomenon, but that does not make it justified. "It’s a typical British thing, we don’t like winners," Mason says. "I’m not surprised he got booed in Newcastle, though, as it’s happened before."

He points out that Littler has also faced hostile reactions outside the United Kingdom. “I was working in Germany and he got a load of stick – and he’s basically now said that unless he really has to he won’t go there anymore." According to Mason, that is particularly striking given the major role of German fans in darts. “It’s an interesting one as something like 30 per cent of tickets sold at the World Championship are to Germans."

The ex-pro sees that the phenomenon of jeering is appearing more and more in the sport. He cites Gerwyn Price as an example of a player who has often been the target of negative reactions. “The culture of booing has worked its way into darts, you just have to look at the stick Gezzy got."

For players, it can have serious consequences during a match, especially when it’s not just noise but targeted disruption. “If it’s a wall of noise you can play in it, it’s when the whistles and the other sounds come in that it gets tricky. You become very aware of it and, when you throw, you almost wait for it because you know it’s coming."

Mason says he simply does not understand fans’ behavior. “I don’t really understand it and I don’t like it. Why are people booing the best player in the world? Let him and the other players do what they do and play at their best.”

Luke Humphries also recognizes that success can trigger resistance. According to the former world champion, it’s a familiar pattern when a player dominates for a long time.

He experienced similar situations himself when he topped the world rankings. Humphries believes some fans simply get used to one player winning and crave change. He says booing is sometimes a way to knock a dominant player out of his rhythm.