Luke Littler threatens Dutch tournament boycott after crowd whistling in Amsterdam

Hostile reception in Amsterdam

Reigning two-time world champion Luke Littler faced persistent boos and whistles during his opening matches at the World Series of Darts Finals at AFAS Live in Amsterdam. The hostile reception began during his Friday victory against Dutch player Danny Noppert and intensified during Saturday night's last-16 session. Spectators whistled throughout Littler's turns at the oche, creating significant distractions for the 19-year-old. The situation prompted referee Charlie Costorphine to intervene and instruct the audience to cease whistling. In response to the crowd, Littler chose not to thank the audience or sign autographs on stage after either victory.

Tight victory over Aspinall

On the stage, Littler secured a 10-9 victory over Nathan Aspinall in their best-of-19 contest. The match was a rematch of their July World Matchplay encounter, where Littler hit a nine-darter in the opening leg of an 11-8 win. In Amsterdam, Littler built an early 3-1 lead before the crowd noise disrupted his rhythm, allowing Aspinall to take a 5-3 advantage. Aspinall missed two darts at a double to lead 7-5, and Littler leveled the score, though Littler struggled with 22 missed darts at doubles overall. Costorphine issued a second warning to the crowd in the 17th leg before Aspinall moved 9-8 ahead, putting Littler within one leg of his first defeat in a premier event in 329 days. Littler held throw to level at 9-9 and closed out the match with a 12-darter on double 20.

Littler evaluated his performance in the post-match comments.

I only played well in the last session. The first two sessions I didn't feel confident.

Threat of Dutch tournament boycott

Following the match, Littler stated that he is prepared to boycott future European Tour events in the Netherlands if the hostile environment persists. The 19-year-old previously withdrew from European Tour events in Germany for the same reason after facing similar crowd hostility. He confirmed that he will return to German competition in October for the European Championship in Dortmund to see if conditions have changed. Littler is currently attempting to win all 10 premier televised tournaments in a calendar year, having already won the first five premier events in 2026.

Littler explained his position during his post-match media obligations.

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 whilst I'm getting booed.

Results across the Amsterdam bracket

The Saturday evening session in Amsterdam finalized the remaining spots in the quarter-final round. Wales's Jonny Clayton recovered from a 6-4 deficit to defeat Japan's Motomu Sakai 10-8, earning a match against Littler on Sunday afternoon. Gerwyn Price recorded a three-dart average near 98 in a 10-5 victory against Canada's Jim Long, setting up a clash with James Wade. Wade reached the last eight by defeating Dutch competitor Wessel Nijman 10-7. In the other half of the draw, former world champion Luke Humphries exited the tournament following a 10-9 defeat to Dutchman Dirk van Duijvenbode, who advances to play Gian van Veen.