Luke Littler: Darts world champion appears to hit back at critics after Players Championship defeat

Luke Littler has appeared to hit back at critics on social media after he lost in the third round of the opening Players Championship event on Monday.

Littler lost 6-3 to Joe Cullen in the third round of the behind-closed-doors event in Wigan, missing 15 doubles with an average of just 87.8.

The 18-year-old is yet to reach a tournament final in the events he has played since becoming darts' youngest-ever world champion last month.

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After his defeat to Cullen, a Facebook account named 'Luke TheNuke Littler' replied to a user comment on a PDC post and said: "Still earned a few quid today while these are sat at home charging their phones waiting for me to lose."

The comment Littler appeared to reply to read: "All you littler haters make me laugh remember what he's done and won in one year on tour. Hate people who rip into peoples success."

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The LukeTheNuke Littler Facebook account appears to be a personal account, which has nearly 80,000 followers and has posts dated back to 2014 when Littler was seven years old.

Littler will compete in the Players Championship 2 on Tuesday, before turning his attention to the second Premier League Darts night on Thursday in Glasgow, where he faces Rob Cross in the opening match at 7pm.

Cross won the opening Players Championship on Monday, beating Cullen in the final.

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