Michael van Gerwen scolds Luke Littler and says he must be ‘responsible for his actions’ | Other | Sport
Michael van Gerwen urged Luke Littler to start acting like a grown man after The Nuke turned up late for his media duties on Wednesday.
Both players were due to speak ahead of the opening Premier League night in Belfast, where they will meet in a rematch of the World Darts Championship final.
Littler arrived at the venue later than many of his rivals, prompting Van Gerwen to hit out at the teenager in his own press conference. He also urged the PDC to stop treating Littler ‘like a baby’ given that he is now legally an adult.
When asked what he thought of Littler turning up 25 minutes late, the Dutchman replied: “45 minutes late, you mean? They need to stop treating him as a baby, yeah? He’s not a baby any more. He’s 18 years old now.
“It happens. He has to learn but he needs to learn the hard way. It’s a professional sport so you have to be responsible for your actions as well, simple as that.
“If he turns up late for an interview, I don’t really mind, but now seven other people are waiting for him. That’s not really nice, is it?”
It remains to be seen if sparks will fly on stage when the two players renew their rivalry in Belfast, with Littler heading into this year’s Premier League as the defending champion.
Their most recent meeting was at the Dutch Darts Masters, where Littler cruised to a 6-3 victory. He has won seven of his last 10 matches against Van Gerwen and will certainly be hoping for another triumph on Thursday.
He will be looking for an immediate return to form after being dumped out of the Winmau World Masters in the quarter-finals, losing at the hands of Jonny Clayton.
Speaking ahead of his match against Van Gerwen, Littler admitted he was feeling the ‘pressure’ of having to defend his title but said he was looking forward to another Premier League campaign.
“This is the only sport where the fans are always behind you,” he explained. “It does add that little bit of pressure at times. I absolutely love it when there are tens of thousands in the arena and I can’t wait for the Premier League to begin this week.
“There’s a little bit of pressure there to defend the trophy, but it’s a long 16 weeks and as long as I get in the top four I go to the O2 for the semi-finals.”
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