Luke Littler has been warned he could quickly become disliked by the rest of the darts world.

Littler won the world championship in January to become the youngest-ever winner of that title. He has claimed four majors in all, including the 2024 Premier League, the World Series and the Grand Slam.

Since winning the world title at Alexandra Palace, Littler has endured a rocky year. But he did win Night 2 of this year’s Premier League in Glasgow last week. He fell to Gerwyn Price in the quarter-finals of Night 3 on Thursday.

In the aftermath of that defeat, Littler has been handed a warning about his standing on the tour. Former world champion Dennis Priestley believes that other players may start to get jealous of the teen sensation.

He told OLBG: “Luke Littler or Luke Humphries are the best two players in the world. But that can all change quickly, you wouldn’t be surprised to see somebody else win in Dublin because there is a lot of talent there.

“When you do have one or two players dominating the sport you do start to get disliked by other players because they want that success – they’ll just get more and more determined to beat you.”

Littler had found himself trailing 4-1 to Price in Dublin on Thursday, eventually slipping to a 6-4 defeat. He stormed off the stage in a rare display of frustration, throwing his darts case down the stairs.

The 17-year-old’s outburst was captured by Sky Sports cameras following his exit in the first-round. Littler had appeared visibly frustrated throughout the evening match against Price, who went on to win the night’s competition.

Despite mounting a mini-resurgence reminiscent of his comeback against Rob Cross last week, the teenage star couldn’t replicate those heroics. After that match, Littler attempted to put his frustrations behind him.

He wrote on Instagram : “Not the way I wanted to follow up the win last week. But loads more darts to play starting with premier league and uk open next week. Appreciate everyone who came out to support tonight.”

The Premier League circus will next decamp in Exeter, with Littler to face Stephen Bunting in the quarter-finals. The Bullet is yet to progress past the first round in any of the Premier League events so far.

Meanwhile, the UK Open will take place at Butlin’s Minehead Resort from February 28 to March 2. Littler will enter that competition in the fourth round, along with the rest of the world’s top 32.

Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle in an unbeatable new deal that saves £192 and includes 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.

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