LUKE LITTLER and Gian van Veen will be forced to practice in the same Premier League Darts room next Thursday as their feud continues.
The pair – who contested the final in January – clashed in Manchester on April 2 when on stage in their Prem quarter-final.
Luke Littler is second in the Premier League Darts standingsCredit: Alamy
Seventh-place Gian van Veen has ground to make up over the next six Prem meetingsCredit: PA
The Nuke – the reigning world champion – petulantly encouraged the Mancunian crowd to cheer as was throwing for the leg but this backfired and he received plenty of stick online for his actions.
The duo in Brighton on Thursday night – and kept their distance from each other.
At many venues in the 17-week event, there are two practice rooms for the eight players to throw warm-up darts.
However, at the Rotterdam Ahoy complex next week there is one large area, which means the two tungsten throwers will come into some form of contact backstage.
On the oche, they could meet in the semi-finals, provided , 19, beats and then Van Veen gets the better of .
Littler was booed when he appeared on stage in East Sussex and he is likely to receive lots of abuse when he appears in Van Veen’s homeland in front of orange-clad spectators.
Van Veen, 23, says there is no issue on his part and is willing to bury any bad feeling, having moved on from the high-profile incident.
Jonny Clayton, 51, on the South Coast following a 6-5 victory over in the final.
Van Veen and Littler clashed in Manchester last weekendCredit: Getty
Jonny Clayton returned to the top of the table with a nightly victory in BrightonCredit: Getty
His third nightly win saw him leapfrog Littler at the top of the standings with 24 points, which puts him in pole position to make the playoffs next month at London’s O2 Arena.
Asked about speculation that Littler and Van Veen had not thrown in the same area, the Ferret confirmed: “Yeah, they’re always in separate practice rooms.
“If there’s two rooms, myself, Michael and Luke Humphries are in one and usually Gian comes into that.
“I don’t think there’s anything of it. It’s just the way it happens.
“Gian was in with us and Luke [Littler] was in the other one. So there’s nothing in that.
“I saw Luke going out. So that gave me a chance to try and get back. It was my night. So, I’ve popped up to number one for a minute.
“Who knows? Next week, I could lose in the first round and Luke gets back to top spot. I want to be in the top four and that’s all that matters.”
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Eze Chidiebere Paul
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