Referee forced to pause Luke Littler vs Nathan Aspinall twice as players urged to walk off stage
Referee Charlie Corstorphine had to briefly halt the World Series of Darts last 16 match between Luke Littler and Nathan Aspinall on more than one occasion - to deal with disturbance from the crowd in Amsterdam.
Littler was taking on his friend and rival Aspinall in the last eight as he continued his pursuit of the 'perfect year' - winning every ranking and non-ranking television titles in 2026.
His attempts were dealt a major blow as he went into the second interval at 7-5 down in a race to 10, but he recovered to win in a last-leg decider 10-9. Before that, both players were impacted by the noisy crowd in Amsterdam.
'Do not whistle...' - Referee issues warning to World Series crowd
Midway through a leg, Corstorphine took to the microphone and pointed towards a section of the crowd who were whistling at Littler during his throw.
"Ladies and gentlemen please, out of respect to both of the players, please do not whistle whilst they are throwing. Thank you."
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The players were then able to resume the match and, though whistles could still be heard as the match continued, the crowd was far less vocal - and even cheered when Littler hit 180s.
With the score at 8-8, one fan decided to shout out as Aspinall was about to throw for a leg dart, prompting a firm 'Thank you' from referee Corstorphine in response.
Fans on social media suggested that Littler and Aspinall should have walked off the stage due to the crowd reaction, but that didn't happen.
Why darts has a major whistling issue
While crowds were generally in favour of Littler during his rapid rise to the top of darts, the reaction towards him has become more frosty in some locations as he continues to dominate.
It's not only 'The Nuke' that is on the receiving end, as Jonny Clayton found out to his cost during a Premier League clash against Luke Humphries last year.
In July, Clayton pleaded with fans to not 'spoil' matches, stating: "We're there to try and entertain the crowd. We need that crowd behind us: we need the banter, we need the singing and we need the cheers. Why whistle? Why spoil it?
"We are there to play our best game to keep the fans happy. So why do the fans try and upset our rhythm? Hopefully it stops and we can let loose on the dart board."
Former darts star Vincent van der Voort was also critical of what would be his home crowd for the way they treated Littler during his last 32 clash against Dutchman Danny Noppert in the World Series earlier this week.
"Why do you have to boo him so much as a crowd?" Van der Voort asked on his podcast, 'Darts Draait Door'. "You're not giving him enough respect for how big this lad already is. You should be happy he's here - he's a truly unique player. We've never seen this before.
"You know you're for Noppert. Fine. But you don't have to boo him like that. Just get behind Noppert fully. They were more busy trying to get to him than cheering on Noppert."
Topics: Luke Littler, Darts
Ryan Smart