Luke Littler has withdrawn from two Players Championship events in the Netherlands less than 24 hours after his bid for a PDC majors title clean sweep was dashed.
World No 1 Littler was dumped out of the World Series of Darts Finals at the quarter-final stage by a 10-4 defeat to Jonny Clayton on Sunday, ending his run of winning the first six premier events of the season.
The 19-year-old had been scheduled to feature at Players Championship 29 and 30 in Den Bosch, Netherlands, on Tuesday and Wednesday but has pulled out of both events, a decision which effectively ends his chances of qualifying for November’s finals in Minehead.
‘The Nuke’ sits 125th on the Order of Merit in the Players Championship circuit, £16,750 adrift of the final qualification spot on offer to the top 64 players.
Littler’s decision follows the teenager threatening to boycott tournaments in the Netherlands after he was subjected to boos and whistles during the World Series of Darts Finals.
Littler’s performance was purely down to ‘pressure’, according to Raymond van Barneveld
The Amsterdam crowd jeered the two-time world champion throughout his first-round match against home favourite Danny Noppert, with Littler saying he would take the same stance with the Netherlands as he does with Germany after being subjected to fan abuse there.
“With the Germans, I haven’t been for a long time. We will have to see in Dortmund whether it changes or stays the same,” he told Online Darts. “If the Dutch stay like this, then I’m not going to do any Euro Tours over there.
“There’s just no point in me travelling, wasting my time while I’m getting booed. I just want to play my darts, obviously sign autographs.
“The past two nights, I’ve done nothing. I’ve just walked off stage without thanking anybody. There’s no point thanking everyone when they are booing me.”
Sky Sports remains the home of darts with the World Grand Prix (September 28-October 4), Grand Slam of Darts (November 14-22) and World Darts Championship (December 10-January 3) all live. Stream darts and more through NOW with no contract.