In the electrifying realm of professional darts, where every throw carries the weight of legacy and rivalry, a storm of controversy has erupted over the meteoric rise of teenage sensation Luke Littler. The 18-year-old prodigy, known as “The Nuke,” has dominated the 2025 Premier League Darts season, leaving opponents reeling and fans in a fervor. But not everyone is cheering from the sidelines. Vincent van der Voort, a seasoned Dutch darts veteran, has unleashed a fiery critique, lamenting the presence of what he calls “too many Littler fanboys” among the current lineup. With the Premier League barreling toward its climax, he’s thrown his weight behind a bold proposal: bring in a fresh face to shake up the cozy camaraderie and restore the cutthroat edge he believes the competition desperately needs.
Littler’s reign atop the Premier League table is nothing short of spectacular. With an eight-point lead over world No. 1 Luke Humphries, he’s turned arenas from Cardiff to Newcastle into showcases of his relentless talent. His latest triumph—a jaw-dropping 6-1 thrashing of Humphries in Newcastle—came on the heels of four nightly wins in eight weeks, a stat line that underscores his command. Yet, it’s not just his precision that’s turning heads; it’s the way his rivals react. Van der Voort has zeroed in on players like Stephen Bunting and Nathan Aspinall, pointing to their mid-match fist bumps and grins with Littler as evidence of a troubling trend. “Every little thing, they’re giving him fist bumps or smiles,” he fumed, painting a picture of a league softened by admiration rather than hardened by competition.
For Van der Voort, a former PDC standout nicknamed the “Dutch Destroyer,” this friendliness is a betrayal of the Premier League’s gritty soul. He’s not content to let it slide. Instead, he’s championing a fellow Dutchman, Dirk van Duijvenbode, as the antidote—a player who’d swap pleasantries for a fierce fight to the finish. “Compared to some of the players in it now, I’d much rather watch Dirk,” he declared with conviction. “There’s always something happening when he plays.” Van Duijvenbode, a 23-year-old ranked No. 18 despite a shoulder injury that’s hampered his 2024 season, embodies the intensity Van der Voort craves. “He steps up to compete against him and does everything to win,” he added, contrasting this with what he sees as a cast of players acting like “the perfect son-in-law”—polite, predictable, and lacking the spark to challenge Littler’s dominance.
The Premier League, a 17-week gauntlet spanning seven countries, thrives on its blend of top-tier talent and theatrical flair. The Professional Darts Corporation handpicks its eight-player field, balancing world rankings with crowd-pulling charisma. Littler, the defending champion after a stunning 2024 debut that included a nine-darter and a final win over Humphries, has cemented his spot. But Van der Voort, now No. 29 in the world, knows the selection game firsthand—he nearly cracked the lineup last year before injury derailed his season. “In my injury year, I was really close,” he recalled, hinting at an on-stage interview in Rotterdam that felt like a tease of what might have been. Now, he’s watching Littler’s runaway success—eight points clear with a £275,000 prize in sight—and he’s convinced the league needs a disruptor like Van Duijvenbode to keep the drama alive.
Littler’s ascent is the stuff of legend. Crowned the youngest PDC World Champion at 17 in January 2025, he’s since added the UK Open and multiple World Series titles to his haul, amassing over £1.5 million in prize money in just 13 months. His charisma—fist bumps and all—has won him legions of fans, but it’s also sparked a backlash. After a World Championship match where Bunting and Aspinall’s chumminess with Littler raised eyebrows, Aspinall vowed to toughen up. “I showed him too much respect that night,” he admitted, promising more aggression next time. Van der Voort sees this as a symptom of a broader issue: a league too enamored with its golden boy to truly test him.
As the Premier League heads toward its May 29 finale at London’s O2 Arena, Van der Voort’s call for change hangs in the air. Van Duijvenbode, a former aubergine farmer with a flair for the dramatic, hasn’t nabbed a televised major yet, but his hunger could be the jolt the competition needs. “There are too many Littler fanboys right now,” Van der Voort insisted, urging the PDC to rethink its roster before the playoffs. Whether his plea breaks through remains uncertain, but one thing’s clear: in a sport where precision meets passion, the battle for supremacy—both on the board and in the headlines—is far from over.
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