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Gerwyn Price gives clear verdict on Luke Littler and Gian van Veen bust-up in Premier League

Gerwyn Price won Premier League Darts night nine in Manchester but the event was overshadowed by Luke 'The Nuke' Littler and his falling out with rival Gian van Veen

[Gerwyn Price reflected on Gian van Veen's spat with Luke Littler.]

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Gerwyn Price reflected on Gian van Veen's spat with Luke Littler.(Image: Getty Images)

Gerwyn Price has played down the magnitude of Luke Littler and Gian van Veen's spat at the Premier League Darts in Manchester. Price took home glory in the North West on night nine after beating Van Veen 6-2 but it was the quarter-final between the Dutchman and the world number one that stole the headlines.

Littler, 19, crashed out at the first time of asking in a thriller against his youth darts foe after both players missed match-winning darts before Van Veen ended his run without a win in the competition, which stretched to night four in Belfast. The pair shared a war of words on the oche before it spilt over into social media as the 19-year-old hit back at post-match comments from the victor.

Having fallen behind, the Warrington-born darts star had to fight back to recover to send the game to a decider. The two-time World Champion was accused of celebrating a missed dart from Van Veen, after missing D15, before making a crying gesture towards the home crowd, but it was the 23-year-old who progressed.

Price said: "Things like this happen in darts, I'm sure in a couple of weeks it'll be done and dusted, gone and we'll move on. I've been in that situation, it's part and parcel, in darts emotions are high, it's a rollercoaster and people get hyped up.

"It is what it is. If you didn't have that reaction, sometimes you need to be a little bit pee'd off and get those reactions otherwise, what's the point?

"Do you not want to win that much? You'll probably regret some of the things you do, or the reactions you have then you think about it tomorrow.

"But if you're not up for it in the game, sometimes it happens. I don't think there's anything wrong with it, I've been there, the backlash of it, Luke will probably have it but in a couple of weeks, it'll be gone."

Van Veen went on to beat Josh Rock 6-3 in the semi-final but couldn't get going as the Iceman surged to a nightly win in Manchester. Price, Jonny Clayton and Michael van Gerwen are all in the top four as Littler sits two points clear at the top.

[Gian Van Veen reacts whilst shaking the hand of Luke Littler]

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Gian Van Veen and Luke Littler's bust-up overshadowed proceedings in Manchester(Image: Getty Images)

But going into night 10 in Brighton, the fallout between the two talented darts players will dominate the headlines. Van Veen was forced to admit that some of the antics displayed by his rival did "really annoy" him. He said after the quarter-final win: "I'm on 90, I miss double 15 on the inside, and then I see him celebrating towards the crowd. I don't think that's normal.

"And then he also makes that crying gesture. He's a fantastic darts player, but today he showed he's not a good loser.

"Celebrating a miss from your opponent, that really annoys me. That's why I gave him a look. The fact he then misses three darts at a double, that's his problem.

"He was celebrating me missing double 15. That's out of order. I was fuming about that and he missed three darts at double seven.

"Then he looked at me like I was the problem. He is probably fuming. That's my perspective. His perspective is probably different.

"I love Luke to bits. All the attention he has brought to the sport is phenomenal, but today was my day."

Littler continued the rift on social media, posting two screenshots to his Instagram story. The first of which featured the 19-year-old's, already, glittering honours board with the caption: "Goodnight, godbless thank you Manchester." He followed up with a post sharing Van Veen's comments, adding three laughing emojis.

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