Luke Littler begins his Belgian Darts Open title defence on Saturday night – and he will be hoping for no heated oche antics this time around.
The 18-year-old goes into his second round meeting with Ryan Searle high on confidence after scooping his maiden UK Open title last week.
He then won his second night in the Premier League on Thursday in Brighton as his stock continues to grow.
Just two days on from beating Nathan Aspinall in the final, he will return to action at the Belgian Open.
It’s a venue Littler holds fond memories of after triumphing last year in what was his first title on the PDC European Tour.
And no darts fan will forget the reigning world champion’s bizarre encounter with Germany’s Ricardo Pietreczkoon following his 7-3 semi-final victory.
Tempers flared on stage after the teenage sensation checked out with his signature double 10.
Pietreczkoon approached the Manchester United fan to shake his hands, with it all seeming perfectly normal.
However he then got right in the face of the youngster where he could be seen looking visibly angry while still clenching his rival’s hand.
Littler looked perplexed as to what was happening after being aggressively confronted, with Pietreczko proceeding to shout in his face before walking off stage.
Refusing to be drawn into a war of words, Littler simply told ‘Pikachu’ to ‘get out’ before he took the acclaim of his adoring supporters in attendance.
Taking to Facebook after the last-four clash, a dumbfounded Littler posted: “No idea what I did wrong, no idea what he said.
“He said something then don’t do it again.”
Pietreczko meanwhile labelled Littler as being arrogant in his attempt to explain himself – insisting he hoped the teenager would soon be put in his place.
He wrote on his Instagram story: “I appreciated him a lot that you can play such a game at such a young age.
“But I hope the arrogance punishes him.”
There were suggestions that Pietreczko took exception to a number of bold checkout attempts from Littler, which included an unconventional 147 checkout.
In that attempt, he tried to go down the route of triple 19, double 20 and then bullseye, but ultimately missed with his second dart.
Sadly for darts fans, any chance of Littler and Pietreczko renewing their rivalry in Belgium this weekend is over.
Pietreczko emerged victorious over Matthew Dennant in the first round on Friday as he edged out a 6-5 win.
But he crashed out in the second round against Dave Chisnall after losing 6-3.
As for Littler, his Belgian Open defence starts in the evening session against World No. 19 Searle.
