Luke Littler has vowed to troll Ricardo Pietreczko with a cheeky celebration after the German squared up to him following his defeat at the Belgian Darts Open. The 17-year-old beat ‘Pikachu’ on his Euro Tour debut earlier this month but angered his opponent with an unconventional attempt at a 144 checkout.
Pietreczko was left furious at what he thought was ‘arrogance’ from Littler and got in the teenager’s face during their post-match handshake. The pair were spotted exchanging a few choice words, with Pietreczko wagging his finger at Littler before storming off the stage.
During an appearance on The Happy Hour Podcast, Littler was asked by host JaackMaate to give a cheeky nod to Pietreczko in the form of a celebration if he beats Luke Humphries in the Premier League later this week.
He said: “Can we give you a subtle celebration to do? I think it would be funny if you just look at the camera and wag the finger. What about this week at Belfast in the Premier League, the next time you celebrate? If you beat Luke, a little finger wag?”
Littler seemed up for it as he replied: “Yeah. I owe two things now. A guy off fantasy football told me to do a little W or something next time I win.”
Pietreczko took to social media in the aftermath of his incident with Littler to suggest the teenager will face karma for what he thought was unsportsmanlike behaviour. He wrote on his Instagram story: “So I appreciated him a lot that you can play such a game at such an age. But I hope the arrogance punishes him.”
Not everybody thought Littler was in the wrong, though, with Sky Sports pundit Wayne Mardle praising him for his calm approach and noting Pietreczko’s reputation of being hot-headed when he loses.
“I’ve got to be careful here, I’ve got to bite my tongue but Pietreczko has got previous,” explained Mardle. “When he gets beat, he doesn’t like it so to be honest this is kind of expected, but what wasn’t expected was the reaction from Luke.
“He was just like: ‘I couldn’t care less. Get off my stage’. Luke Littler has got it. He’s relaxed, he’s focused when he needs to be, he enjoys the interaction with the crowd, he enjoys all of it and he’s just 17. Luke is going to get more of this because there is going to be jealousy.
“People are going to be jealous of everything that comes his way with the sponsorships, the endorsements, the money, the fame, the media attention. Some think they deserve it more than Luke. The likes of Pietreczko could try and rattle him but you can’t rattle Luke Littler.”