One of Luke Littler’s biggest inspirations in darts has brutally hit out at the teenager.
Raymond van Barneveld has told Luke Littler to “f*** off” for not returning his texts after becoming an overnight sporting sensation. The Dutch darts icon is one of Littler’s biggest inspirations, but was not best pleased when the teenager snubbed him after sending a congratulatory message following his Belgian Darts Open win.
The pair met for the first time at the World Championship in December, when footage went viral on social media of Littler as a toddler pretending to be his icon Van Barneveld, before downing the 56-year-old on his way to the final.
Having seen that clip, Van Barneveld perhaps expected that his opponent may be a bit more gracious and friendly on the stage. However, he claimed that the opposite took place and he was baffled at how Littler treated him at the Alexandra Palace oche.
“So that’s the weird thing about it,” Van Barneveld said when asked by Dutch outlet Sportnieuws.nl about his relationship with darts’ newest household name.