Gian van Veen shuts down Luke Littler Premier League feud after 'fist-bump' claim

Gian van Veen has issued his latest response to Luke Littler as their heated row continues into night 11 of Premier League Darts.

Littler suffered a 6-5 quarter-final defeat to Van Veen on week nine in front of his home crowd in Manchester.

The two-time reigning champion missed a match dart at double 14 in the final leg, before Van Veen missed two efforts at D15.

But after Van Veen's misses, Littler celebrated in front of the crowd, with his opponent looking back at him in dismay.

The 19-year-old responded with a shooing gesture towards Van Veen, before missing three more match darts on his next throw.

He followed that up with a 'crybaby' gesture as he walked back to his table, and only offered a cursory handshake to the World Championship runner-up at the end of the match.

"He's a fantastic darts player, but today he showed he's not a good loser," Van Veen, who reached the final in Manchester, said afterwards.

"Celebrating a miss from your opponent, that really annoys me. That's why I gave him a look. The fact he then misses three darts at a double, that's his problem."

Littler was heavily booed last week by the Brighton crowd ahead of his quarter-final against Stephen Bunting.

In an interview published on Monday, 'The Nuke' would tell Online Darts that he had in fact performed 'a little fist bump' towards his girlfriend, Faith, and her father after Van Veen's miss.

"When he came inside for double 15, I looked up, had a drink of my water, and did a little fist bump towards Faith and her dad," he explained.

"That's when the fans on that side started - they were all screaming - so I was like, 'Come on' to them. And then the whole arena got involved.

"There was no need for Gian to look back and stare at me.

"Apparently, he said he caught me [celebrating]. But that's a load of... nothing. I didn't do it to him ... there's no need for him to be staring when he's still got a dart left to throw to set up."

Now, Van Veen has attempted to finally put the saga to bed after being asked about Littler's latest remarks by Sky Sports.

"If he wants to bury the hatchet, then fine," the world number four said. "I don't have any hard feelings towards him and I don't know how it is the other way round.

"He has got his opinion and he is entitled to it. I still have mine.

"I have looked back at it. I have seen the videos and I still stand by my opinion. It is what it is, and we just have to go forward with it.

"I enjoy it [drama in darts], but only if I'm not involved. I think that's the best for me."

As for Littler, he says he is 'expecting the worst' from the crowd in the Dutch city of Rotterdam - the home crowd of Van Veen and Michael van Gerwen - ahead of what promises to be a blockbuster night of darts.