Topics: Luke Littler, Darts
Luke Little hit out at darts rival Stephen Bunting following the fan-favourite player's shock loss at the PDC World Darts Championship.
After a brief break to enjoy Christmas, the PDC World Darts Championship resumed on Saturday with several big names in action across the day.
Reigning champion and current world number one Littler produced a dominant performance over Austria's Mensur Suljovic to book a spot in the last 16.
But things didn't go quite as well for the ever-popular Bunting as the world no.4 suffered a shock exit after losing to world number 63 and fellow Englishman James Hurrell.
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Littler would have faced Bunting in the semi-finals had both men made it that far, and it the 18-year-old made sure to aim a dig at his rival player following their matches on Saturday.
Bunting had made it to the semi-finals at Alexandra Palace on two occasions but was far from his best on Saturday, allowing Hurrell to get the best of him in a deciding set.
Meanwhile Littler averaged more than 107 and lost just three legs in his 4-0 win, asserting himself as the clear favourite to win a second consecutive title this year.
And when speaking about his recent form, Littler took a moment to make a subtle comment about Bunting's performance earlier in the day.
"The Luke Littler effect is still going strong in this tournament, I don't think the Bunting effect is going too well this tournament. Maybe I've got the biggest fan base," Littler teased.
However, he quickly realised just how brutal the cheeky comment was, adding: “I had to say that, sorry!”
Following his first round win over Poland's Sebastian Bialecki, Bunting received backlash from fans while calling himself 'the People's Champion' in the aftermath of his gruelling win
"I'm Stephen Bunting. I'm the People's Champion," he said. "I believe I've got the best fan base in that. I've got the best social media in darts."
Littler's comments following Bunting's surprise loss was clearly a cheeky reference to the Englishman's confidence earlier in the competition, and his claims of having the best fans in the sport.
He will now face the winner of Damon Heta and Rob Cross in the last-16.
