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.

The pair were involved in a jovial war of words as the battle lines began to be drawn ahead of the World Darts Championships, next month. The former world number one declared war on his opponent as he admitted they are in a league of their own compared to their rivals. 

“I’m really proud, three finals on the trot I’ve lost. I’m ready for the worlds now, I’m going to win the world’s. I am [declaring war], I’m disappointed to lose but that tiredness crept in, we’re going to war, World Championships, we’re going to go to the final, we’re going to see who’s number one. He deserves everything, he’s been a massive advocate, he deserves to be number one. I never really felt like world number one, never got that attention that I deserved but I’ve done myself justice. I’ve kept him at bay long enough, at this World Championships I’m going to give it my all.

“I do [feel like him and Littler in a league of their own] I’m not being arrogant when I say that. A lot of people say it’s another Luke vs Luke final, we’re in other sides of the draw and we get to the final. I’m trying to stop him and I can’t, they have to beat us. At the moment, we’re playing a level better than everyone else. Regardless of what happens at number one, I want to be in a world’s final against him, we want to go again, toe-to-toe.”

The back-to-back Grand Slam champion added: “I’ve got to say it’s a tough job getting up this morning, playing in the afternoon, no one likes it but you have to get it through it. Once I got over the line, I knew I was number one. Luke played amazing, I went over to him after I won it and said it was a weird game. Back-to-back. It’s always going to be close, no one is ever going to run away with everything, it’s going to be close. Phil said do the hard work, get to the final relax and let them go. Looking back at the game, 160 to go in at the break 11-9 because I was down, that 160 I was gone. Luke tried to hit the 170 but that was the game-changer because I went two clear.”

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.