Luke Littler "out of order" in Gian van Veen row at Premier League 2026 at AO Arena, Manchester

Darts sensation Luke Littler was "out of order" during an on-stage spat, according to rival Gian van Veen. The Dutch star said Littler had reacted badly to van Veen gesturing to the crowd as he faced a throw for the match, at the Premier League event in Manchester.

Littler appeared to take exception to the Dutch thrower's actions, gesturing angrily at his opponent and gesturing to the crowd himself. However, after missing his own chance to take the leg, Littler mimicked crying towards his opponent, who then took out double six to bring the contest to a close.

After the final throw, the pair exchanged a brief handshake, but van Veen later told Sky Sports he was unhappy with Englishman Littler's behaviour.

“I missed the double 15 and I looked around, and I was fuming with myself that I missed, and I looked around and he was celebrating that I missed. That was out of order. I was fuming about that," he said. “I love Luke to bits, he’s a fantastic player and guy for the sport and to see all the attention he’s brought to it is phenomenal, but this is also part of it as well and today was my day.”

The 6-5 loss dashed Littler’s hopes of claiming a third straight Premier League win at the AO Arena. The darts star took to Instagram in response, posting quotes from Van Veen accompanied by three crying-with-laughter emojis.

After a slow start to the season, Littler had surged to the top of the standings with back-to-back victories in Dublin and Berlin. Van Veen had not won a match since week four of the competition and is still recovering from the kidney stones that forced him to sit out Dublin.

But he served notice of his intent with a bullseye to seal a 128 checkout for a break of throw in the third leg and just missed a double five that would have opened up a 5-1 lead.

Littler, who hails from nearby Warrington and is a big Manchester United fan, recovered to 4-3 and it appeared Van Veen’s chance might have gone when he failed to land a double for the match at 5-3. Littler levelled, but could not find the answers when it came to the crunch.

Van Veen put the confrontation behind him, beating Josh Rock 6-3 in the semi-finals, but lost out to Gerwyn Price 6-2 in the final. The Welshman had previously beaten Luke Humphries and Stephen Bunting by the same scoreline and is up to second in the table, two points behind Littler.

Price imitated Littler’s fishing celebration when he took out a 170 checkout in the third leg against Bunting and he said afterwards: “Just a bit of fun, nothing too out of order I don’t think.”

Price had sympathy for Littler regarding his reaction to van Veen, saying: “Things like this happen in darts. I’m sure in a couple of weeks it’ll be done and dusted. Emotions are up and down and people get hyped up. I’ve been there, the backlash off it. Probably Luke will have a little bit of it. I feel for the kid at the minute.

“I’ve won tonight, that’s all I’m bothered about. Five points, £10,000 in the bank and I’m up to number two above Jonny (Clayton), so I’m happy.”