Luke Humphries was accused of "throwing his toys out of his pram" against Luke Littler after getting frustrated at a spectator whistling during his throwing action at the opening Premier League night of the season.
All eyes were on Littler for his Darts Premier League debut at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff.
The fixtures immediately grabbed the attention of darts fans as the 17-year-old was pitted against Humphries in his first match in a repeat of the World Championships final.
Littler has already made waves on the Masters circuit, hitting a nine-darter on his way to winning the Bahrain event.
Luke Humphries appeared distracted by the whistle
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He then made the final at the Dutch Masters last week before narrowly losing to Michael van Gerwen.
That set Littler up nicely for the opening night of the Premier League season in Wales.
Littler had already got his revenge on Humphries at the Dutch Masters and had another chance at putting the world champion to the sword.
Gerwyn Price may be the home favourite inside Cardiff, but Littler was given a similar ovation during his match against Humphries.
Littler got the all-important break of throw in the fourth leg to take a 3-1 lead and Humphries was unable to truly recover from that moment.
The partisan crowd then turned on Humphries as Littler closed in on the victory with one spectator getting on the world No 1's nerves with a few whistles at crucial stages.
Humphries was throwing to stay in the match in the eighth leg and was attempting double 16 to cut the deficit.
However, there was another loud whistle from the crowd that clearly irked Humphries, who turned around in anger and shook his head after his dart missed.
Littler then made no mistake on his chance to take the match and move into the semi-finals.
Humphries didn't look happy as he exited the stage, scratching his head with a blank look on his face.
Luke Humphries looked angry as he walked off stage
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However, some viewers felt Humphries over-reacted to the noise from the crowd.
One person wrote: "Humphries throwing toys out of pram over a whistle. [Nathan] Aspinall was just taking it on chin earlier."
Another noted: "#lukehumphries bit ignorant then after being battered by #lukelittler."
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Luke Littler has put on a show! 🔥
— Sky Sports Darts (@SkySportsDarts) February 1, 2024
He beats the World Champion and World Number one 6-2! 😲 pic.twitter.com/n82uUelGuy
A third said: "Luke Humphries, bad loser."
However, some felt the whistles from the crowd were disrespectful to the players on the stage.
One person posted: "Woohooooo Luke The Nuke, but those whistling Humphries were bang out of order… Grow up!!"
Another said: "No need for the whistling on humphries throw. But littler is just at it again. Sublime."
