Luke Littler was left frustrated by a remark made by a familiar rival during their Players Championship showdown on Saturday night.
The world No.1 produced a strong comeback in Minehead, overturning a 5–3 deficit to defeat Ricardo Pietreczko 10–6 and book a quarter-final meeting with Chris Dobey. The win moved Littler one step closer to claiming the major title that has so far eluded him — and it came against a player he has previously had tense exchanges with.
Pietreczko started brightly and held the advantage early on, but a mid-match comment sparked a shift in momentum. At 5–5, before play resumed, the German reportedly told Littler that he had only expected to win a single leg. The 18-year-old interpreted the remark as an attempt to distract him, and it had the opposite effect.
“We came back on at 5–5 before the callers got on stage — it was just me and him,” Littler said.
“He said, ‘I expected to get one leg and now I’ve got five.’
In my head I was thinking, ‘What are you talking about?’ That’s when I told myself, ‘Right, I’m winning this now,’ and I did.”
Littler responded with a burst of scoring power and added a touch of showmanship to his game, believing Pietreczko had tried to unsettle him.
“That’s why I brought all the showboating,” he explained. “If someone tries to get in my head, I’ll just focus even more and bring out the showboats.”
Despite the tension, Littler noted that Pietreczko was gracious afterwards.
“He was pretty happy after I beat him. I thought it might be like it was on the Euro Tour, but it wasn’t — fair play to him.”
Statistically, it was a dominant finish from the world No.1. Littler averaged 102.67 to Pietreczko’s 90.41 and produced a spectacular 121 checkout — bull, treble 7, bull — to claim his fifth consecutive leg, celebrating with the crowd as momentum fully swung his way.
A look back at their previous clash
The pair’s history goes back to the Belgian Darts Open, where Pietreczko confronted Littler after a 7–3 semi-final defeat. Confusion followed as Pietreczko criticised Littler’s approach to a checkout, later suggesting he felt the youngster had shown unnecessary flair.
However, the German later apologised publicly, admitting in an Instagram post that he had let his emotions get the better of him and expressing respect for Littler’s achievements.
With tensions now seemingly eased, both players will move forward — but their rivalry continues to provide plenty of drama on the oche.
