Forward-thinking Luke Littler has made peace with Raymond van Barneveld after their public spat over text messages gone unanswered.
Five-times world champion Barney had been left gutted Luke the Nuke didn’t answer when he sent the 17-year-old boy wonder congratulatory messages after his triumph at the Belgian Darts Open this month. And in a huff, RVB playfully admonished Littler in a scathing interview with a Dutch media outlet, scoffing: “Dude’s on his phone all day… f*** off.”
#But after winning his first Premier League night in Belfast, the Warrington whizzkid revealed everything has been smoothed over with van Barneveld – one of his boyhood idols. Asked if he had been hurt by RVB’s comments, Littler said the storm in a teacup had subsided after van Barneveld contacted his manager Martin Foulds. He said: “Disappointed? No – he messaged Martin and said, ‘Don’t listen to them, I didn’t say anything’. That’s it.”
Now he’s dealt with the truce, the whole truce and nothing but the truce, Littler can plough on with his maiden Premier League campaign in good heart. He beat Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen and Nathan Aspinall to win his first night in the competition, at the ninth attempt, on Thursday night.
During the walk-on before his impressive demolition of van Gerwen, Luke the Nuke was briefly disconcerted when a fan appeared to tug his throwing arm momentarily – a definite taboo for spectators who line the walkway hoping for selfies or autographs. Littler said: “I don’t know who he was but he pulled my arm and it hurt a little bit. That’s why I went straight on stage, I didn’t interact with my music. I heard everyone singing but I just needed to relax. But my hand is fine. It worked out well.” Littler now heads to Manchester, where he faces van Gerwen in front of a home crowd. He said: “I cannot wait for next week. I am sure Nath (who is from Stockport) cannot wait either. I know I have got van Gerwen, so it’s all eyes on winning that first game.
“The past eight weeks the crowds have been unbelievable with me. This was my first time in Belfast and I cannot wait to come back next year. Every week is a new experience but Manchester is one of the biggest arenas in the Premier League so it should be good.”
Littler, who is currently second in the BetMGM Premier League table, added: “All the fans have been good to me – maybe not so much in Newcastle because of the football banter but in general the crowds have been great and hopefully this win is the first of many.”
