From adored hero to pantomime villain, Luke Littler was the subject of a hostile atmosphere during his last 16 victory over Rob Cross at the 2026 World Darts Championship.
The rendition of 'walking in a Littler wonderland' that echoed around the Alexandra Palace after his walk-out soon transformed into a chorus of jeers targeting the reigning world champion, who didn't like their animosity one bit.
As he pinned his winning dart inside the double 20, an outpouring of emotion surfaced as Littler spun around and proceeded to provoke the Ally Pally crowd that had tried so desperately to unnerve him.
"I'm not bothered. Really, I'm not bothered. I'm really not bothered," Littler said after the match.
Can I just say one thing? You guys pay for tickets that you're paying for my prize money, so thank you: thank you for my money. Thank you for booing me. Thank you.
Littler doubled down on his comments in further dialogue with the media, telling talkSPORT: “I said what I said. Obviously, the fans booing and whistling and I’ve just said to them, ‘you pay for our prize money, thank you’.
“There’s no point whistling and booing because the us players, we’re always the winner. But hopefully it’s different on New Year’s Day.”
While Littler was evidently irked by his treatment from the crowd, the venomous atmosphere did not detract from his performance.
The Nuke averaged 107 overall, including 125 in a ridiculous third set and totalled 17 180s, the most by any individual in a match at this year's tournament. Somehow he was unable to unshackle Cross, who certainly embraced the occasion, but Littler was on the periphery of his very best.
"I've just seen the stats then but I wasn't really thinking of anything - I just wanted to win the game," Littler added. "It was hostile, nobody wanted me to win, but yet again I proved them wrong.
"The fans did what they did and I reacted as any other player would really. I think I might have reacted a bit too early after the first set but I just had to get on with the job.
"When I went 3-1 up, I felt like I was really in it. Obviously Rob [Cross] found his feet, but I just had to get rid of him."
Littler then said: "It is what it is. They [the crowds] want the underdog to win and they want the favourites to go out. I just had to get out of the way and get my job done.
"I'm only a few games away from lifting the trophy once again but the performance tonight just really doesn't feel like a 106 and a half. It was just that much adrenaline going through me, that much emotion, the anger, but I can say I'm glad that I won."
