Luke Littler reveals real reason Ricardo Pietreczko squared up to him during furious on-stage incident

Luke Littler has revealed the real reason why fellow darts player Ricardo Pietreczko squared up to him after a match at a European Tour event.

The pair faced off in the semi-finals of the Belgian Darts Open earlier this month, with Littler triumphing 7-3.

However, German dartist Pietreczko was less than happy after the defeat, as he walked up to Littler before whispering some inaudible words in his ear.

Later, the world number 34 took to Instagram to write: "Well, I really appreciated him [Littler] being able to play a game like that at such an age, but I hope his arrogance punishes him."

When asked to explain the incident by Sky Sports, Littler said that he had no idea what he done for Pietreczko, who is nicknamed 'Pikachu' and walks out to the Pokemon theme at televised events, to square up to him in such a manner.

Now, speaking on JaackMate's 'Happy Hour' podcast, Littler has finally revealed what caused the tension between the two players.

Littler began: "He was chatting in German, and then he said, 'Don't do it again'.

"I was like, 'What?'. I knew it was the 147 when I tried to checkout. I went treble 19, which left me with 90 [remaining] so I tried going tops [treble 20] and bull.

"Then I missed the tops and then I hit the 25.

"But the next leg he was left on 80, and he tried going tops-tops. But he went 20-20 and tops, and then he was giving it the finger wag... and I just started laughing."

Pietreczko had already hinted at what the row was about when he posted an apology to 'The Nuke' days later on his Instagram page.

He said: "Hi fans! I wanted to apologise for my behaviour on stage in Wieze.

"I was really proud of reaching the semi-finals but got a little bit too emotional and overreacted in the game. Sorry @lukethenukelittler and big respect for what you have achieved.

"Usually I am a fan of fancy checkouts. Looking forward to the Pro Tours in Germany next week! Thank you for your support!"