Luke Littler has been warned that his stage antics could come back to haunt him after his latest incident with darts fans.
That’s the view of former world number one Colin Lloyd, who believes the teenager’s behaviour in Leeds shows he’s turning into a character.
Littler made a crying gesture to heckling fans during his 6-4 Premier League win over Nathan Aspinall on Thursday.
‘The Nuke’ – who is an avid fan of Leeds’ hated rivals, Manchester United – was booed upon his arrival in the Yorkshire city.
The 18-year-old also made a yawn gesture during his walk-on for the quarter-final.
He then made a 4-1 gesture to TV cameras later on in a celebratory reference to the Red Devils’ win over Athletic Bilbao that same night.
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In his assessment of Littler’s antics, former World No. 1 Lloyd believes fans should appreciate interacting with the five-time major winner.
However, the 51-year-old warned the teen that he could be at risk of getting hammered by hostile fans down the line.
Lloyd told talkSPORT: “The one that really got me was when he came walking back and they were booing him as he was going for a double.
“He hit the double – that was against Nathan.
“He came walking back to the crowd and just went…” (Mimics crying gesture).
“People have said over the years, or the past few months anyway, that the game has not got many characters anymore.
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“I think he’s turning into a bit of a character.
“I think he is someone who goes up there and goes about his business in his own way, and he just does not care.
“He doesn’t care that they’re booing him or trying to do things to him. He just shrugs his shoulders.
“And he interacts with the crowd, and they should appreciate that. But sure, that’s up to him if it works for him.
“When you’re doing stuff like that, you could get to a point where they are at you constantly, and then if you react to them, you can’t complain.
“But listen at this moment in time, he is riding the crest of a wave for the last 18 months, and it looks like that wave is going to continue.”
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Luke Littler TROLLS heckling fans with hilarious gesture in Premier League thriller
Unfortunately for Littler, he couldn’t quite get the nightly win over the line, as he was beaten 6-5 by Luke Humphries in the final.
It put a dent in Littler’s ambitions of breaking the points record, which he is aiming for before the end of May.
Littler, who became the youngest ever world champion in January, remains on top of the table on 38 points with two nights remaining.