Fresh from his triumph at the UK Open, Luke Littler will enter the Belgium Open with a spring in his step.
However, returning to Wieze will stir up memories of his first on-stage clash since bursting onto the darts scene. The young star had a heated exchange with Ricardo Pietreczko in last year’s semi-finals, with tensions reaching boiling point when they shook hands.
Littler emerged victorious with a 7-3 win, his swagger and confidence clearly ruffling Pietreczko’s feathers. After his stunning run to the 2024 World Championship final, several players tried to knock Littler off his stride in Wieze.
The then-17-year-old remained unflappable, breezing past Jose de Sousa, Damon Heta, Jermaine Wattimena and Krzysztof Ratajski, who resorted to drinking from Littler’s water bottle in an attempt to unsettle him. After securing his place in the final by beating Pietreczko, tempers flared at the oche as the German player angrily confronted Littler.
The pair nearly came nose to nose, with Pietreczko venting his frustration at Littler, who displayed remarkable maturity, merely pulling a puzzled face at the crowd and pointing at Pietreczko.
He was then seen telling ‘Pikachu’ to “get out” as his rival left the stage. After the match, a baffled Littler took to Facebook to share his confusion, writing: “No idea what I did wrong, no idea what he said. He said something then ‘don’t do it again’.”
It’s been speculated that Littler’s daring checkout attempts might have irked Pietreczko. Earlier in the game, Littler had gone for tops and bullseye to clear 90 and tried an audacious 147 checkout using triple 19, double 20 and bullseye.
His second dart missed the target, leading to him losing that leg. However, he bounced back by securing four consecutive legs to reach the final against Rob Cross, where he triumphed.
Littler begins his 2025 Belgium Open campaign in the second round against Ryan Searle on Saturday night, while Pietreczko plays Dave Chisnall on Saturday afternoon.
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