Luke Littler uncharacteristically took aim at the Alexandra Palace crowd with a stinging jibe about their entry tickets.
The 18-year-old moved one step closer to defending his PDC World Darts Championship crown by beating Rob Cross 4-2 in a thrilling fourth round match at Alexandra Palace on Monday night.
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Littler took fire at the crowd following his fourth round win over CrossCredit: Getty
But he wasn’t happy with the fans in attendance after scraping to a spot in the quarter-finals.
Immediately after hitting double 20 to secure the victory, he gestured to the crowd with his arms wide open, while shouting, ‘What now? What now?’
Feeling as though he didn’t have the support amid boos from spectators, Littler then rubbed it in the face of those jeering him that they are paying for his prize money.
Take a good Luke
In a shock on-stage outburst in his post-match interview, he told Sky Sports: “[On hostile reaction] I’m not bothered, really I’m not bothered.
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“Can I just say one thing – you guys pay for tickets and you pay for my prize money.
“So thank you, thank you for my money, thank you for booing me! Come on!”
Littler added: “I just had to hold, Rob broke me, I broke him back, I knew if Rob hit a 180, he’s on 162 so I had six darts at it.
“There wasn’t much pressure, I saw the stats then, I wasn’t thinking of anything, I just wanted to win the game.
“Like you [interviewer Polly James] said, it’s hostile, nobody wanted me to win but yet again, I proved them wrong.
“It’s not in reach just yet, you’ve got to get to the final.
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Some fans began to turn on Littler on Monday nightCredit: Getty
“I’ll enjoy two days off then I’ll be back on New Year’s Day.
“I spend New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day in London, so we’ll be doing that again.”
When asked about his argument with the crowd, Littler told talkSPORT later on Monday: “I said what I said. Obviously, the fans booing and whistling and I’ve just said to them, ‘you pay for our prize money, thank you’.
“There’s no point whistling and booing because the us as players, we’re always a winner. But hopefully it’s different on New Year’s Day.”
Unsurprisingly, Littler’s comments o stage only drew further jeers from the fans, resulting in the teenager walking off stage to a chorus of boos from some in attendance.
But he will be hoping for a better reaction when he takes to the oche next time out against either Luke Woodhouse or Krzysztof Ratajski for a place in the semi-finals.
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It remains to be seen why Littler was met with boos, or which sections of the crowd targeted him.
But as he shown so often in his career so far, whether you’re a rival or a fan, you aren’t getting under his skin.