Luke Littler shows elite mindset after being booed for the first time in his career at Dutch Masters

Luke Littler gave a defiant response after being booed by a crowd for the first time in his career ahead of Friday's Dutch Masters opener against Dirk van Duijvenbode.

Since making his senior debut last month, the 17-year-old has taken the darts world by storm.

He managed to reach the World Championship final and secure £200,000 after wins over Christian Kist, Andrew Gilding, Matt Campbell, Raymond van Barneveld, Brendan Dolan and Rob Cross.

And two weeks later, he lifted his first senior PDC title with a 8-5 victory over three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen.

Littler, who was guaranteed £1,250 just for appearing in Bahrain, banked the top prize of £20,000 after beating Van Gerwen, Gerwyn Price, Nathan Aspinall and Man Lok Leung.

It has been a whirlwind month for the Runcorn-born thrower, who will take part in the much-anticipated Dutch Masters event this week.

After spending a chunk of his time on the EA FC web app before Friday's opener, he entertained the crowd with his trademark entrance to 'Greenlight' by Pitbull and Flo Rida.

But before his walk to the oche, he was booed by the Dutch crowd. Littler, meanwhile, decided to respond by cupping his ears with a noticeable grin on his face.

The teenager went on to silence the boos and secure a place in the Dutch Masters quarter-final with a dominant 6-2 win over Van Duijvenbode.

You can watch Littler's entrance below.

After being asked about cupping his ear in Friday's post-match press conference, Littler mentioned the crowd were booing him before commenting: "I proved them wrong again."

He added: "I'm playing a Dutch player on his own turf. I've got to get used to it. That's what's going to happen."

Ahead of this week's Dutch Masters tournament, world number four Nathan Aspinall offered some advice to Littler as he gets ready to take part in the Premier League.

“I think he can handle the darts,” Aspinall told Planet Sport. “I think it’s the other stuff that may have an effect on him. At the end of the day, he’s just a kid playing darts, he doesn’t care about the money, he just loves playing darts.

“I think playing darts every single day won’t affect him. I think the travelling and the media could have a bit of an impact on him. But I’m confident."

Is this the first time Luke Littler has got booed 🤔

A little suprised at the Dutch fans but let's see how he handles it

— 𝑅𝓎𝒶𝓃 (@formulaRyan21) January 26, 2024

Aspinall added: "He’s got the same manager as me. We’ve got a fantastic management team around us. As long as he doesn’t get ahead of himself and think he’s the ‘big man’ which I don’t think he will because he’s not that type of guy. I think he’ll be fine."