Luke Littler admits referee Kirk Bevins did him no favours when he tried to quell the Glasgow crowd as he battled to a 6-5 win over Luke Humphries on night two of the 2025 betMGM Premier League.
The 18-year-old could not shrug off the world number one, who came back four times at the OVO Hydro to make it 4-4 before before winning the ninth leg – but Littler recovered to take the final two legs.
However, Bevins’ intervention over the microphone to stop the whistling and jeering initially aimed at Humphries, it seemed, only added to the disruption and afterwards Littler admitted his frustration.
He said: “Yeah, obviously, there was a few in particular that were doing it when Luke was throwing.
“Kirk told them to be quiet and it got even worse, and then I missed doubles and Luke breaks at 5-4.
“I’m just like, ‘Kirk, you’ve made it worse for me there, I’m 5-4 down.’ But I broke back.
“If it’s the same (outcome) as what it was when Kirk said it, then obviously just leave it.
“Obviously, they’ve got to step in at some point and say something. But yeah, that was pretty bad, but I got the win.”
Littler had come back from the brink of a quarter-final exit to win the second night of the competition.
The youngster from Warrington found himself 5-1 down to Rob Cross before roaring back to win 6-5 and then he found top form in the semi-final to dismiss Michael van Gerwen 6-2.
On his rivalry with the Dutchman, who beat him last week in Belfast, Littler said: “It’s just the case of we both want to win.
“I think everyone knows that I’m a quick starter, and that’s probably second time that I’ve got a massive lead on Michael.
“And then, obviously Michael got a few legs on the board, but I was just too good for him.
“Especially losing in the way I did last week, I just wanted to put it right this time.
“And that’s what I did. I got more points on the board and then I beat Luke.”
After taking nine weeks last year to get his first win, before going on to win the tournament outright, Littler was happy to make his mark early this year.
He said: “Yeah, obviously it took me the eight, nine weeks that it did.
“But during that I was always fourth, fifth, every week and I was picking up the points.
“But to pick up maximum points on week two is really good.”
Humphries survived a scare in his quarter-final against Chris Dobey, whom he beat on the opening night final in Belfast, to win 6-4.
His semi-final against Gerwyn Price, who beat Nathan Aspinall 6-4 in the quarter-final, ebbed and flowed and Humphries took four legs in row to win 6-4 but could not find a way past Littler
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