Defending world champion Luke Littler has admitted he "lost his head" after firing back at booing fans during his World Darts Championship victory on Monday night. The 18-year-old advanced to the quarter-finals with a 4-2 win over Rob Cross at Alexandra Palace, but his defiant reaction to hostile crowd reception made headlines.
Littler sarcastically thanked the jeering spectators in his immediate post-match interview with Sky Sports. «Can I just say one thing. You guys pay for tickets and you pay for my prize money so thank you for my money, thank you for booing me!» he said. The teenager insisted: «I'm not bothered, I'm not bothered, really I'm not bothered,»
But by the press conference, Littler acknowledged his emotions had got the better of him. Joking about whether he had lost his head, he said: «I think I lost it, I think it's still on there!» He described feeling «adrenaline, emotion and anger» during the match.
Reflecting on His Reaction
Littler admitted his timing was off. «Think I might have reacted a bit early on after that first set and when I came on for the second set and they were still at it I said to myself, 'you've done it a bit too early here',» he explained at the press conference.
The world number one revealed the crowd's energy had actually helped his performance. «It definitely fuelled me up and I definitely played better, so we'll just have to see what happened on New Year's Day,» he said, referring to his upcoming quarter-final match.
From Fan-Favorite to Target
Littler, who was previously a major fan-favorite in north London, now faces booing as the dominant world number one and defending champion. The crowd's support shifted to underdog Rob Cross during Monday night's match.
Littler exacerbated the tense atmosphere by shouting provocatively after crucial darts throws during the game. He averaged over 106 and hit 17 maximum 180s in the victory.
The teenager will face either Luke Woodhouse or Krzysztof Ratajski in the quarter-finals on New Year's Day. He has already guaranteed himself at least £100,000 in prize money by reaching the last eight.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
