Teen prodigy Luke Littler has told how a shock altercation with a fan while he walked onstage ahead of his Premier League Darts win almost threw him off his game.
A member of the crowd appeared to get a grip of the 17-year-old, from Warrington, during his walk-on as he prepared to face off against Michael van Gerwen in the semi-finals on Thursday (28 March).
Littler was strutting his stuff to Pitbull's hit Greenlight at the SSE Arena in Belfast when the bizarre exchange unfolded moments before he was about to compete for a place in the final at London's O2 Arena in May.
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The teenager's entrance was interrupted by an overzealous fan who appeared to grab onto his arm before he then 'pulled' on it, leaving Littler quite shaken up.
Security staff - who flank darts players as they approach the stage - intervened, although it is unknown what happened to the overly-tactile supporter.
Despite being flustered by the interaction, Littler managed to keep his cool and went on to put on a spectacular show as he defeated his rivals Michael van Gerwen with a 6-3 win and Nathan Aspinall with a 6-4 triumph.
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Discussing the strange occurrence that nearly wreaked havoc on his walk-on, the young darts star said: "I don’t know who he was, he pulled my arm. It hurt a little bit.
"That’s why, when I went on stage, I didn’t interact with my music. I heard everyone singing but I just needed to relax. As soon as Charlie [the referee] said ‘Game On’, I had to relax myself. My hand is fine. It worked out well."
Alls well that ends well, I suppose - but surely yanking on the arm of a professional darts player is equivalent to stamping on the leg of a footballer. Is that a whiff of sabotage I smell?
Littler managed to keep his eyes on the prize though and walked away with £10,000 after scoring his first ever nightly Premier League win, while also soaring up to second place in the table with 18 points.
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He said of his victory: "I’m happy to win, it’s my first one. I’m glad to win against a good friend.
"As people may have seen, I have changed my throw, trying to take that extra bit of time and then release the next two. "Sometimes I rush my darts. I am taking more time before releasing the next dart," Littler continued.
"I have practised more for this and it has paid off. I had a good practice game before coming out with Rob Cross.
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"It got me up for this. If you don’t enjoy it, you don’t perform. You won’t play well. Every arena had 5,000-plus fans. I cannot wait for next week in Manchester. It’s close to my home."
Only the World No 1, Luke Humphries, stands in his way as he currently boasts a four-point lead.
Littler will now head to Manchester for the final round of the competition which takes place next week, which will decide the four players who qualify for the play-offs in London on 23 May.
Topics: Luke Littler, Sport, UK News, News
Olivia Burke