Luke Littler was left furious by a crowd disturbance involving his mum during his walk-on in Thursday night’s Premier League contest in Exeter.
The 18-year-old’s evening then ended in misery as he was beaten in the final by Luke Humphries.
It was in the build-up to his quarter-final against Stephen Bunting, however, that the unsavoury incident involving his mother occurred.
During the walk-on, Littler went to hug his mum, Lisa, but received what appeared to be a push from a spectator who wanted to shake the player’s hand.
Littler responded by giving the individual a cold stare before slowly making his way to the stage.
After he had made his way onto the playing area, Littler turned in the direction of his family, held his thumb up before seemingly mouthing ‘No’ and shaking his head.
Luke Littler gets involved in a crowd altercation during the walk-on for his quarter-final match
The 18-year-old congratulates Luke Humphries after losing out in Thursday night’s final
It was a mixed night for Littler who played some stunning darts before falling short in the final
Security members were then seen talking to a member of the crowd in the vicinity of where the players’ family and entourage are seated.
Littler put the incident behind him to fire in a record-breaking 10 180s as he crushed Bunting 6-3.
He then comfortably saw off Nathan Aspinall 6-2 before he met his match in world No 1 Humphries in the final.
The 30-year-old came from 3-1 down to beat Littler in the latest instalment of their growing rivalry.
World champion Littler was runner-up to Humphries in the 2024 world final but beat him to win last year’s Premier League.
Humphries had not beaten Littler in their six previous Premier League matches but he was able to stop the rot when it mattered in Exeter to emerge victorious on Thursday night.
‘Luke played fantastic tonight, he didn’t play as great in the final but I managed to step on the gas, like I did in the other two games, right at the end of the game,’ said Humphries.
‘Being sat on 15 points after four weeks, that’s a dream start for me and hopefully I can keep pushing and keep reeling in the points to guarantee a spot in the top four, because that’s all that really matters.’
