Tempers flared between Luke Littler and Gian van Veen on stage.\u00a0Peter Byrne\/PA Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Gian van Veen called opponent Luke Littler “out of order” after a tense finish to his quarterfinal win that saw Littler’s hopes of claiming a third straight Premier League victory end prematurely.<\/p>\n
The 19-year-old Littler surged to the top of the standings with back-to-back victories in Dublin and Berlin and was the big favourite on home soil at the AO Arena before falling 6-5 to Van Veen.<\/p>\n
But the headlines centred around a fiery ending to the contest, when Littler took exception to Van Veen turning towards the crowd as the Dutchman tried to clinch a notable victory, only to fluff his lines going for double 15.<\/p>\n
Littler gestured angrily at his opponent and geed up the crowd but blew his own chance of winning.<\/p>\n
Littler then mimicked crying towards Van Veen, who took out double six to bring the contest to a close.<\/p>\n
“He was celebrating me missing double 15. That’s out of order. I was fuming about that and he missed three darts at double seven.” Van Veen told Sky Sports.<\/p>\n
“Then he looked at me like I was the problem. He is probably fuming.<\/p>\n
“That’s my perspective. His perspective is probably different. I love Luke to bits. All the attention he has brought to the sport is phenomenal but today was my day.”<\/p>\n
Littler took to Instagram in response, posting quotes from Van Veen accompanied by three crying-with-laughter emojis.<\/p>\n
Van Veen had not won a match since week four of the competition and is still recovering from the kidney stones that forced him to sit out Dublin.<\/p>\n
But he served notice of his intent with a bullseye to seal a 128 checkout for a break of throw in the third leg and just missed a double five that would have opened up a 5-1 lead.<\/p>\n