Luke Littler was left angered by the Wolverhampton crowd during the Grand Slam of Darts final against Luke Humphries as referee Huw Ware had to step in. The newly-crowned world number one cut a frustrated figure as he was knocked off rhythm by callouts from the crowd during his showdown with his fellow Englishman.

The 18-year-old, who knocked Humphries off his perch after beating Danny Noppert in the semi-final to become the number one, had to stop the throw of his third dart following a shout of, “come on Luke” from the crowd. Two of the PDC’s greats locked horns once again and played out a classic in the early exchanges. 

At the time, the score was 7-6 and Littler had already shown signs of frustration as his namesake didn’t budge in the early proceedings. The heckling began at the start of his throw, while remaining relatively distraction-free for Humphries’ return to the oche. 

For the 14th leg, Littler’s arrows at the board grew hard as the frustration was laid bare when he collected his darts. The incident came to a head when Littler attempted to throw his last dart and was forced to regain his bearings, before Humphries took the leg. Ware intervened to address the crowd, saying: “Guys, the best of order while both players are throwing thank you.”

But the new leader in the PDC rankings quickly regained composure, moving level before racing ahead with superb darts. Humphries offered resistance but Littler eventually ran away with it, showing his mettle as he has done during his Grand Slam of Darts defence.

The 18-year-old has shown in the latter stages of the tournament, and again on the Sunday against Noppert, to find his form as the encounter headed into its business end. He became the first player since Gerwyn Price to retain the Grand Slam of Darts as he beat Humphries 16-11.

Jeering has become a frustration and a growing concern for players in the PDC. Already this week, Ware had to intervene to stop the crowd from interrupting the players as he stepped in to admonish whistling in an attempt to put off Price. During Price’s quarter-final win over Ricky Evans, Ware warned the crowd Darts over their unsporting behaviour.

On Friday, after Price nearly hit a maximum, before he could announce the score, Ware said: “Would you stop doing that, please? Seriously.” The 40-year-old appeared shocked at first as he turned towards the spectators, displaying a wry smile.