Luke Woodhouse called on fans to get behind Luke Littler and “appreciate” his talents, after the 19-year-old has been subjected to boos by crowds at recent events.
Littler set out to defend his World Grand Prix title on Monday in Leicester, but was knocked out by Woodhouse in the first round, suffering a 2-1 defeat.
The world No 1 was seemingly not at his best during the match, averaging 82.41, with Woodhouse coming back from a set down to book a last 16 tie against Nathan Aspinall.
Reflecting on his victory, Woodhouse urged fans to get behind Littler, hailing him for how he has elevated the sport.
“Luke’s not a robot. He is going to have days and weeks where he’s not right on it,” Woodhouse said.
“People have echoed it and I’m going to say it again: He’s a one-of-a-kind, Luke Litter.
“I hope people will take the time to appreciate how good he is and not give him a hard time and I mean really sit behind him.
“You might not see another Luke Littler ever again.”
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Mark Webster and Michael Bridge discuss concerns over crowd whistling at the World Series of Darts
Earlier in September, Littler was subjected to boos and whistles by some areas of the crowd during the World Series of Darts Finals in the Netherlands.
Littler was booed by fans during his opening match against Danny Noppert, before again being jeered during his round of 16 match against Aspinall. In that match, referee Charlie Corstorphine was forced to intervene to settle the crowd.
The 19-year-old had also threatened to boycott events in the Netherlands, before later pulling out of two Players Championship events in the country. He was ultimately knocked out of the tournament in the quarter-finals by Jonny Clayton.
Asked why he thinks some have been giving the back-to-back PDC World Darts Championship winner a hard time, Woodhouse said: “I don’t know.
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Littler was booed by the crowd in Amsterdam during his World Series of Darts win against Danny Noppert (Credit @OFFICIALPDC)
“He’s done for the game what Phil [Taylor], Michael van Gerwen, Raymond van Barneveld and Gary Anderson have done and has taken it to the next level.
“I just hope people get behind him, give him the support and appreciate what a top talent he is.
“OK, he wasn’t on it tonight and last week he lost. But he’s going to win so much more stuff.”
‘It’s a mix of emotions’
Woodhouse also said “Littler will go down as one of the sport’s greats”
On Monday night, Woodhouse bounced back from losing the first set to level the match, before getting off to a flying start in the third set.
He took the first two legs, before Littler hit back in the third. From there, Woodhouse would claim the final leg to win the deciding set 3-1, and wrapped up the match with a checkout of 75.
“It’s very difficult to sum up; a mix of emotions,” Woodhouse said on the victory.
“I thought I threw it away in the first set, well not threw away, but I had chances to take the first set to a deciding leg and when I didn’t, I was so angry with myself.
“I felt he [Littler] wasn’t flying on all gears, so, I thought: ‘Please don’t go out and lose two sets when he’s not playing well. So, it’s a relief.
“I’m over the moon to beat someone like Luke on a main stage.”
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Littler took to social media to congratulate Woodhouse on his victory
Woodhouse added that sealing victory over the world No 1 was a huge achievement, but he added he was still hungry to win titles.
“Yeah, it’s fantastic,” Woodhouse said.
“Luke is going to go down as one of the greats, if not already.
“I’m not naive to the fact that it’s a very short format; you’ve got to get out of the blocks quickly, double in, double out too, so I’m not naive to that.
“It’s up there, but winning tournaments is what I’m here for.”
Monday’s first-round results
First to two sets
- Danny Noppert 2-1 Niko Springer
- Ross Smith 2-1 Cameron Menzies
- Nathan Aspinall 2-1 Kevin Doets
- Jonny Clayton 2-1 Krzysztof Ratajski
- Gerwyn Price 2-0 Sebastian Bialecki
- Michael van Gerwen 1-2 Ryan Joyce
- Luke Littler 1-2 Luke Woodhouse
- Wessel Nijman 2-0 Rob Cross
Tuesday’s first-round schedule
First to two sets
- Chris Dobey vs Jermaine Wattimena
- Ryan Searle vs William O’Connor
- Josh Rock vs Niels Zonneveld
- James Wade vs Joe Cullen
- Gary Anderson vs Damon Heta
- Gian van Veen vs Dirk van Duijvenbode
- Luke Humphries vs Dave Chisnall
- Stephen Bunting vs Andrew Gilding
The second round takes place across Wednesday and Thursday, with the quarter-finals on Friday, semi-finals on Saturday and final on Sunday.
Watch day two of the World Grand Prix live on Sky Sports+ and Sky Sports Main Event from 6pm on Tuesday, with coverage every day up to and including the final on Sunday. Latest Sky Sports deals or stream with no contract on NOW
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: skynews.com
