Fan footage shows how Luke Littler reacted to being heavily booed by Brighton crowd

Luke Littler received loud boos from the Brighton crowd ahead of his Premier League quarter-final against Stephen Bunting – and fan footage shows how he reacted to the frosty reception.

Last week, Littler was involved in a heated row with Gian van Veen, who accused the world number one of being "out of order" on night nine of the Premier League in Manchester.

With the score at 5-5, Van Veen narrowly missed his first attempt at double 15 and looked towards the crowd, but after seeing Littler's reaction, he raised his eyebrows – a moment that initially left viewers scratching their heads.

But moments later, after the cameras zoomed out, a furious Littler could be seen throwing his arms into the air. In fact, the teenager gestured at the crowd, who then started to boo Van Veen.

Speaking after the match, Van Veen criticised Littler for his on-stage outburst. "I’m on 90, I miss double 15 on the inside, and then I see him celebrating towards the crowd," he said.

"I don’t think that’s normal. And then he also makes that crying gesture," added Van Veen, who also called it "out of order". "He’s a fantastic darts player, but today he showed he’s not a good loser."

A week later and, following days of conversation around Littler's actions in Manchester, the teenager received loud boos ahead of his Premier League quarter-final clash against Stephen Bunting.

As seen in the footage below, Littler reacted to the crowd with a shrug of the shoulders. He also pointed to his ear after hearing the boo's during his walk-on, and even waved his arm before saying something towards those in attendance.

Ultimately, it was evening to forget for the teenager, who produced one of the worst performances of his career in Brighton, averaging just 83.94 with zero 180s.

In fact, Littler registered his lowest-ever average in a televised PDC event on Thursday night, while Bunting celebrated his 41st birthday with a 6-4 victory over the reigning world champion, recording an average of 91.30.

Fans react to Luke Littler performance against Stephen Bunting

Littler's below-par performance was naturally a big talking point on social media, with fans giving their take on his display against Bunting.

One said: "I've never seen Luke Littler not want to be at an event as much as he did tonight. He wasn't even hiding it either," and a second wrote: "Luke Littler acts unbothered giving it back to the crowd but his performance shows otherwise."

A third commented: "Worrying performance from Littler there. Can’t be easy for him being booed like he has, he’s a 19 year old kid who’s shot to fame and now all of a sudden grown men are booing him. I hope he is ok."

A fourth said: "Well I challenge you to find a worse Luke Littler performance than that. 84 average and ZERO 180’s," and a fifth added: "Crowd have got to littler big time. Shadow of himself on that stage."

Thoughts on Littler's outing on Thursday night? Let us know in the comments.