What Nathan Aspinall did while on a nine-darter during Luke Littler defeat has got darts fans talking

Fans have been reacting on social media after spotting what Nathan Aspinall did when he was on a nine-darter against Luke Littler.

On Wednesday night, Aspinall's quest to win the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship came to an abrupt end after losing 5-2 against tournament favourite Littler at Alexandra Palace, London.

As a result, Littler will take on Stephen Bunting for a place in Friday night's final, with Chris Dobey and Michael van Gerwen completing the semi-final lineup.

During the fourth set between Aspinall and Littler, both players were on a nine-darter after hitting 180s on their first visit. The 17-year-old followed up with another maximum to leave 141 but Aspinall only managed 83 on his second visit.

Littler eventually failed to pull off the nine-darter as he only managed 57 on his third visit.

Reacting on social media, fans were talking about the fact that Aspinall was seen laughing his way through his second visit to the oche and also turned to the crowd on a couple of occasions.

One fan said: "Luke Littler and Nathan Aspinall both on nine-darters in a World Championship quarter-final and the Asp is just laughing."

Another tweeted: "He’s deffo saying in his head “there both on 9s!’"

A third fan added: "This is brilliant."

Someone then pointed out the fact that Aspinall could be suffering from a bout of dartitis - called the 'yips' or 'jitters' in other sports, darts players can be affected by a psychological issue that results in the loss of fine motor skills, muscle memory and severely damage their performance.

A fan said: "Probably laughing off the embarassment he feels from dartitis, must be hard for him, poor guy." You can watch the footage below.

Luke Littler and Nathan Aspinall both on nine-darters in a World Championship quarter-final and the Asp is just laughing 🤣pic.twitter.com/QiwHS8N6yy

— Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) January 1, 2025

However, some fans were not too impressed with The Asp's actions.

Someone else wrote: "That's the difference between the likes of Aspinall and littler. Littler stern, focused , game face on .. Aspinall is laughing. As long as he's happy like. Littler is on the path to greatness."

A fifth commented: "And that's why he lost. Wasn't serious enough when it was needed."