Eagle-eyed darts fans hail ‘moment of class’ as Luke Littler showed respect for his hero during Ally Pally demolition

DARTS fans praised “classy” Luke Littler after his show of respect to Raymond van Barneveld during his famous Ally Pally win.

Littler demolished his hero 4-1 to reach the World Darts Championship quarter-final.

PA

Luke Littler breeze past his hero Raymond van Barneveld[/caption]

Alamy

Darts legend Barney was gracious in defeat[/caption]

But fans were taken aback after the 16-year-old decided not to have a crack at the bullseye to seal victory.

Needing a 170 checkout, Littler hit the two treble 20s he required but instead of clinching the win with a sensational bullseye, he opted for double ten instead.

That left the youngster with 30 left on the scoreboard and he pointed to his head as he looked at the crowd.

Littler knew the leg was all but won as Barney was on 273, leaving the Warrington teen with three darts to win the match.

He only needed one as he hit double 15 to spark bedlam amongst the Ally Pally crowd.

Fans watching on from home were equally impressed and some praised Littler for his class.

One reacted saying: “Luke Littler showing his respect for his hero by not taking out the 170 the boy has class.”

Another added: “What a performance!! Did Luke Littler just avoid a 170-bull finish to stop Barney from being embarrassed?! WOW!!”

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A third wrote: “Luke Littler to have everyone on for a 170 and then tap ya head knowing you’d take out a safer finish is absolute levels!! Unbelievable that. Crazy darts.”

Littler has made history at Ally Pally and is aiming to continue his journey up against Brendan Dolan on New Year’s Day.