Luke Littler secured a 10-9 victory over Nathan Aspinall in the last-16 match of the World Series of Darts Finals, moving closer to winning all 10 major televised tournaments in a calendar year after triumphing in the first five. However, the match was marred by negative crowd conduct, including booing and whistling directed at the back-to-back world champion.
Littler has faced similar treatment from spectators across multiple nights of competition in Amsterdam. The situation escalated during the evening session on Saturday, prompting referee Charlie Costorphine to intervene during the Aspinall match. The darts player expressed frustration with his experience, stating he has not engaged in post-match interactions with fans due to the hostile reception.
The player indicated he is prepared to take further action regarding his participation in the Netherlands. Drawing parallels to his previous decision to avoid European Tour events in Germany, Littler stated he would consider boycotting Dutch tournaments if the crowd behavior does not change. He emphasized his preference to focus on playing darts without disruption.
In other competition results from Saturday, Gerwyn Price defeated Jim Long 10-5, James Wade won 10-7 against Wessel Nijman, Josh Rock secured a 10-7 victory over Ryan Searle, and Ross Smith beat Daryl Gurney 10-5. Dirk van Duijvenbode upset Luke Humphries 10-9 in the afternoon session, while Gian van Veen prevailed 10-7 over Karel Sedlacek and Jonny Clayton advanced with a 10-8 win against Motomu Sakai. The quarter-finals are scheduled for Sunday afternoon, with semi-finals and the final taking place in the evening.
Article Attribution | Read More at Article Source
Article summary produced by Claude AI