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World Series of Darts Finals: Luke Littler threatens Netherlands tournament boycott after being booed and whistled at by Amsterdam crowd

Luke 'The Nuke' Littler was booed and whistled at by fans in the Netherlands during his dramatic second-round victory over Nathan Aspinall; the world No 1 threatened a boycott of Dutch darts events, similar to what he has done in Germany as a result of his treatment from fans there

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Luke Littler and Nathan Aspinall battle it out until the very end where Littler delivered a 12-darter to squeeze into the last eight at the World Series of Darts Finals

Luke Littler threatened to boycott tournaments in the Netherlands after being booed and whistled at during his win over Nathan Aspinall at the World Series of Darts.

'The Nuke' moved a step closer to becoming the first man to win all 10 major televised tournaments in a calendar year, having triumphed in the first five, with a hard-fought win over Aspinall in Amsterdam.

Littler won the last two legs to prevail 10-9 but the match was overshadowed by the crowd's behaviour towards him.

The back-to-back world champion faced a hostile environment during Friday's win over home favourite Danny Noppert and it escalated on Saturday night as referee Charlie Costorphine had to intervene in the last-16 win over Aspinall.

Littler has taken a stance against volatile crowds before, refusing to travel to European Tour events in Germany as a result of his treatment from fans there.

And he is "100 per cent" prepared to do the same in the Netherlands.

Littler celebrates during his victory over Aspinall (Credit: Kelly Deckers/PDC)
Image: Littler celebrates during his victory over Aspinall (Credit: Kelly Deckers/PDC)

"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."

Earlier on Saturday, Gerwyn Price defeated Jim Long 10-5 and James Wade saw off Wessel Nijman 10-7.

Luke Humphries crashed out with 10-9 defeat to Dirk van Duijvenbode, in the afternoon session, while Josh Rock secured a 10-7 win over Ryan Searle and Ross Smith beat Daryl Gurney 10-5.

An emotional Van Duijvenbode, who was joined by young son Levi on stage after the match, said: "Having my kid here is the best thing in my life.

"I won this game because he was here. When you are playing against the world number two you are always nervous.

Dirk van Duijvenbode celebrates his victory over Luke Humphries (credit: Kelly Deckers/PDC)
Image: Dirk van Duijvenbode celebrates his victory over Luke Humphries (credit: Kelly Deckers/PDC)

"When I looked up at him he made so happy every time. It made me so relaxed. In the end that is the reason I won it."

Gian van Veen prevailed 10-7 against Karel Sedlacek and now faces Van Duijvenbode in an all-Dutch quarter-final, while Jonny Clayton battled past Motomu Sakai 10-8 to set up his showdown with Littler.

The semi-finals and final will take place from 6pm on Sunday, following the quarter-finals in the afternoon.

Saturday September 19
Afternoon Session
Round Two

Josh Rock 10-7 Ryan Searle
Daryl Gurney 5-10 Ross Smith
Gian van Veen 10-7 Karel Sedlacek
Luke Humphries 9-10 Dirk van Duijvenbode

Evening Session
Round Two
Jonny Clayton 10-8 Motomu Sakai
Gerwyn Price 10-5 Jim Long
James Wade 10-7 Wessel Nijman
Luke Littler 10-9 Nathan Aspinall

Sunday September 20
Afternoon Session - From 12pm

Quarter-finals
Ross Smith vs Josh Rock
Dirk van Duijvenbode vs Gian van Veen
Gerwyn Price vs James Wade
Luke Littler vs Jonny Clayton

Evening Session - From 6pm
Semi-finals
Final

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