The 2024 Grand Slam of Darts has been a fantastic tournament so far.
There has been some real quality on show from some very exciting young players.
Wessel Nijman was tipped as a future world champion, despite not even winning a game, while Gian van Veen is playing the best darts of his career.
2024 has really been the year of the young upstart in darts, and two players met on Wednesday that perfectly encapsulated how bright the future of the sport is.
Indeed, Luke Littler faced Mike De Decker in Wolverhampton on Wednesday, and while this was a stunning display of darting brilliance with both players averaging over 103, the game was marred by some fan behaviour.
| Players | Legs won | Average | 180s thrown | Highest finish |
| Luke Littler | 10 | 103.48 | 10 | 86 |
| Mike De Decker | 9 | 104.49 | 10 | 114 |
What happened during Luke Littler vs Mike De Decker?
Littler vs De Decker was one of the games of the tournament at this year’s Grand Slam of Darts as both players gave as good as they got in a game that went down to the final leg.
Unfortunately, once again, fan behaviour was at the centre of attention though.
Fans were booing and whistling during De Decker’s visits towards the end of the game as they willed Littler over the line.
Unfortunately, this is becoming more and more commonplace in the PDC as the game grows more popular and fans become tribal supporters of certain players.
Cheering for your favourites is always great fun, but putting off their opponent by jeering, booing and whistling isn’t fair.
Fans react to Luke Littler vs Mike De Decker clash
Understandably, many other darts fans weren’t happy with how some members of the crowd were behaving, and they took to social media to make their points clear.
One fan wrote ‘Darts fans are becoming absolute poison these days. I like Littler but every player he’s up against booed to the rooftops, it ain’t right.’
Littler’s rise to popularity does seem to have accelerated this issue, but perhaps this issue started with Gerwyn Price a few years ago when he was public enemy number one on the oche.
Another fan said ‘I’m a massive fan of darts, however, the whistling aimed at De Decker during his finishing is entirely uncalled for. People who do this should be ejected from the venue.’
Of course, the fans are paying customers who should be allowed to make their voices heard, but perhaps the PDC referees should try to do more to quell this sort of behaviour where possible.
De Decker himself criticised how the referee handled things after the game when speaking to Viaplay.
“You know the crowd is part of it, but the fans were totally unfair here. Of course I have to throw those darts in myself, but it’s really a shame,” he said.
“If you say something about it and nothing is done about it. Then why is he just standing there? That’s what he’s a referee for, right? If we as players do something wrong, you hear them right away. But if he won’t even use his microphone here to ask for respect. I don’t get that.”
Meanwhile, other fans online were also critical of how the crowd were reacting.
This was a great game of darts that should have been remembered for all of the right reasons, but, sadly, this match will be remembered for how the fans tried to influence the result of the match.