Luke Littler Silences Booing Crowd with Defiant Gesture During UK Open Victory
Luke Littler made his stance clear after being booed during his tense UK Open clash with Peter Wright, responding with a defiant gesture that left no doubt about his resolve.
The 18-year-old world champion held his nerve in a thrilling 10-9 victory on Friday, overcoming multiple comebacks from Wright, who twice pushed the match to the brink. But it wasn’t just Wright providing resistance—Littler also faced hostility from the crowd in Minehead, who booed him at a crucial stage of the match.
With the scores level at 9-9 and a nail-biting decider underway, Littler had the chance to seal the match with a 170 checkout but opted for a safer route, setting himself up for a double 20 finish instead. The decision was met with loud jeers from the audience, prompting Littler to respond with a pointed finger wag and the apparent words: “Not a chance.” Justified in his approach, he coolly landed double tops on his next dart, celebrating with a triumphant fist pump.
Littler had to dig deep to outmatch Wright, who delivered six 180s across the 19-leg battle. Despite missing 12 of his 22 checkout attempts, the Warrington star maintained a stellar 109+ average, just enough to edge past Wright, who himself played one of his finest matches, finishing with a 101 average. The 54-year-old Scot—known as ‘Snakebite’—never backed down, nailing 50% of his checkouts, including an impressive 122 finish.
Wright fought back from 3-2 and 7-4 deficits, looking poised to steal the win when he leveled the match at 9-9. After Littler squandered a match dart at 9-7, Wright seized the opportunity to stay in contention before ultimately falling in the decider.
Littler, who gave a playful nod to the camera after securing his victory, acknowledged the battle he had faced.
“It’s always good to get off to a 2-0 or 3-0 start,” he told ITV Sport. “That’s not always going to happen—it happened a few times in this game. But I had to fight back a few times and managed to get the win.”
