Image source, PA Media. BySam Drury. BBC Sport journalist at AO Arena. 2 April 2026. 291 Comments. Gerywn Price secured victory in Manchester after Gian van Veen accused Luke Littler of being “out of order” on night nine of the Premier League.. The Welshman was in stunning form throughout the evening, averaging 105.84 to beat Van Veen 6-2 in the final and move up to second in the table with his second nightly win of the campaign.. But the major talking point came at the end of Van Veen’s thrilling 6-5 victory over Littler in the quarter-finals.. The Dutchman turned his head in disappointment after missing double 15 for the match in the deciding leg and saw Littler celebrating.. That led to an angry reaction from the world champion, who gestured for the Dutchman to get on with it.. Littler then proceeded to miss two more match darts of his own, and then made a ‘cry-baby’ mime to the crowd.. But Van Veen held his nerve and hit double six for the match. The briefest of handshakes followed before Littler marched off.. Image source, PA Media. “From my perspective, I missed the double 15 and I was fuming with myself that I missed, and I looked around and he was celebrating that I missed,” Van Veen told Sky Sports.. “That was out of order. I was fuming about that.. “He probably saw it and then he missed three darts at double seven and then he looked at me like I was the problem and I was like ‘I don’t know what I’ve done wrong because you’re celebrating me missing’.. “I thought that was out of order. He missed and then I took it out and he’s probably fuming. That is darts and that is my perspective. His perspective is probably different, but that is it.. “I love Luke to bits. He’s a fantastic player and guy for the sport and to see all the attention he’s brought to it is phenomenal, but this is also part of it as well and today was my day.”. Littler responded to Van Veen’s quotes with laughing emojis on his Instagram story, also posting an image showing the PDC titles he has won over the past two years.. ‘Caught with his hand in the cookie jar’. Image source, PA Media. Despite his early exit, Littler remains top of the table while Van Veen – still recovering after missing night seven in Dublin because he needed surgery to remove kidney stones – is up to fifth.. The match was a repeat of January’s World Championship final and the dramatic ending only adds to the feeling that there could be quite a rivalry between the exciting young pair over the next few years.. “Luke was happy that Gian went inside the 15 and he kind of did the Simon Whitlock ‘well done’ and you shouldn’t do that,” former player Wayne Mardle said on Sky Sports.. “As he did it, Gian turned round and he kind of went ‘why did you do that?’. “You’ve got to say that Gian handled it better because Luke fluffed his lines and went too aggressive at the double seven. Gian held it together really well.. “[Littler] didn’t expect to get caught. He got caught with his hand in the cookie jar and he w
