Van Veen had stormed into a commanding 4-1 advantage, but Littler battled back to force it to 5-5 in a dramatic and tension-filled quarter-final encounter. However, with both players sitting on finishes, the situation escalated quickly — resulting in visible frustration and some angry gestures from Littler directed at the Dutchman.
Speaking to Dutch broadcaster Viaplay, Van Veen explained exactly what happened on stage: “I’m on 90 and miss double 15 on the inside, and then I see him cheering towards the crowd. I don’t think that’s normal.
“And then he makes that crying gesture too. He is a great darts player, but today he shows that he is not a good loser.
“Cheering over an opponent’s miss really annoys me. So that’s why I gave him an angry look.
“That he then misses three darts at a double, that’s his problem.”
It marked Van Veen’s first week back in the Premier League after undergoing surgery to remove kidney stones, making the victory even more significant for him. Reflecting on his return, he added: “The last few weeks have been very tough. And to beat Luke Littler now feels really good.
“The way it happened, that doesn’t really matter to me.”
Pundit Wayne Mardle also offered his take on the incident while speaking on Sky Sports.
“I know exactly what happened,” Mardle said. “Gian van Veen went inside on D15 and Luke was happy about that, so he kind of gave it the Simon Whitlock ‘well done’.
“You shouldn’t do that. And as he has done that, Gian has turned around thinking, ‘why did you do that?’
“I can lip read but I won’t repeat what Luke said as I don’t want to hand in my notice. You have got to say that Gian handled it better.”
Littler has since responded to Van Veen’s comments on Instagram. Sharing the Dutch star’s quotes from the official darts page on his story, Littler offered a brief but pointed reply — posting three laughing emojis.
The reaction from fans was swift, with many taking to social media to express their anger at Littler’s behaviour during the match. One supporter wrote: “Of all people, he tries picking out Gian van Veen — the most innocent and respectful man on tour — what an absolute t***** Luke Littler is.”
Another fumed: “Littler hasn’t covered himself in any glory at all there, behaved like a complete muppet,” while a third added: “Littler pathetic there, get a grip…”
A fourth fan echoed the sentiment, remarking: “Littler has made himself look like a right mug just now.”
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