Luke Littler has admitted darts fans might be “boring” watching him win after his narrow win over Mike De Decker in the first round of the Winmau World Masters.
Littler survived match darts with a dramatic win in Milton Keynes on Friday.
The 19-year-old went close to a stunning nine-darter and De Decker won straight sets, but missed a match dart for a 3-1 win before Littler hit back late on.
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Mike De Decker missed a crucial match-winning dart against Luke Littler at the Winmau World Masters, which allowed the world number one to fight back and snatch victory.
Littler broke De Decker to take the contest to a deciding set, where he won both legs to complete a 3-2 win and set up a second-round meeting with Ross Smith.
After the win, Littler revealed that he knows fans are growing tired of his dominance in the sport, having experienced crowds supporting their opponents at key moments on several occasions.
The Manchester United fan also mentioned Wayne Rooney’s reaction to England’s boos following a goalless draw with Algeria at the 2010 World Cup – an explosive reaction that made headlines.
“Everything was happening tonight. The boos, the cheers. I had to do my job,” Littler said.
“I think now people want to see a new winner. They are getting bored with me, Luke (Humphries) and Gian (van Veen) winning.
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On Love The Darts, Chris Murphy and Michael Bridge discuss the reaction Luke Littler will receive from crowds at Premier League stadiums.
“Obviously people can choose who they want to support and who they want to boo.
“As I said tonight, I won’t be doing anything during or after the game, I’ll just be playing darts.”
“You may have seen Wayne Rooney’s World Cup video saying, ‘Good to see the fans booing.’
“I saw it on TikTok literally hours after the Rob Cross match (at the World Championships).
“It’s absolutely ridiculous. Like I said, I have to learn from the World Championships and not react.”
Winmau World Masters: Saturday Round 2 Schedule
Afternoon session (1300 GMT)
2 rounds x4
Best of 7 sets
Damon Heta v Chris Dovey
Gary Anderson v James Wade
Gian van Binh v Nathan Aspinall
Jonny Clayton v Gerwin Price
Evening session (1900 GMT)
2 rounds x4
Best of 7 sets
Rob Cross v Josh Rock
Stephen Bunting v Danny Noffert
Luke Littler v Ross Smith
Luke Humphries v Luke Woodhouse
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