World darts champion Luke Littler paraded his PDC World Championship trophy at half-time of Manchester United's Premier League clash with Tottenham
Luke Littler
Luke Littler enjoyed some banter with the crowd(Image: Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)
View 2 Images
Luke Littler had the chance to display his World Championship trophy on the pitch at Old Trafford, but likely didn't anticipate hearing chants of Michael van Gerwen's name during his moment.
The young darts sensation, a, Manchester United fan, showcased his trophy during half-time of United's Premier League match against Tottenham. However, his celebration, which wasn't broadcast on TNT Sports, was interrupted by Spurs fans looking for something to cheer about, with their team trailing 1-0.
'Oh Michael Van Gerwen' echoed from the stands, to which Littler quickly retorted by gesturing towards his trophy and raising two fingers.
The successful darts player is no stranger to fan heckling. On the opening night of Premier League darts, Littler faced some jeers.
After a 6-4 defeat to Gian van Veen, it took Littler less than 10 minutes to cheekily jab at Newcastle fans via an Instagram story post.
Seemingly referencing Newcastle's 3-1 loss to Manchester City in the second leg of their Carabao Cup tie the previous night - a result that saw the Magpies exit the competition - he posted a photo of himself watching the tournament on a projector screen, captioning it: "Newcastle, you were brilliant, On to next week. PS 3-1."
The double world champion experienced some hostile reactions during his Ally Pally campaign. Initially, the response seemed to unsettle the young star, but it didn't affect his performance.
Luke Littler and his World Darts Championship trophy
Luke Littler shows his World Darts Championship trophy to the crowd(Image: Neal Simpson/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)
View 2 Images
"I'm not bothered [by the booing]," he said after once incident. "Really not bothered. You guys pay for tickets and you pay for my prize so thanks for booing me. No-one wanted me to win but I proved them wrong yet again.
"They want the underdogs to win, they want the favourites to go out," Littler added after beating Rob Cross.
"I just had to get it out of the way and get my job done. I think that's the first time I've been at the World Championship and the crowd haven't wanted me to win. I expect the worst on New Year's Day."
Whilst Littler seemed to relish the spotlight at the Theatre of Dreams, the match outcome would have pleased him even more.
Goals from Bryan Mbeumo and Bruno Fernandes secured victory for the hosts after Cristian Romero received his marching orders.