Luke Littler slams 'absolute helmet' darts coach after 'ridiculous' criticism
Former darts professional turned coach Andy Cornwall criticised PDC world champion Luke Littler for his 'absolutely ridiculous' decision to compete in a recent youth tournament
An irked Luke Littler has labelled the darts coach who criticised his decision to play at the World Youth Championship an 'absolute helmet'. Littler, 18, appeared at the tournament in Wigan last week but was beaten in the semi-finals by rising star Beau Greaves, who went on to lift the trophy.
'The Nuke' enjoyed his experience and heaped praise on Greaves, a three-time women's world champion at the age of 21. Cornwall, though, wasn't impressed.
"Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous," the former PDC Tour Card holder claimed on the Mission Darts Podcast. "It was a bit like, 'Look at me, look at me, look at me. Everything is about me'.
"I didn't like it one little bit. Somebody should have got hold of him and said, 'You're doing the wrong thing here, Luke. You're taking away somebody else's chance. You should not be playing in the youth anymore when you're world champion."
After Cornwall pulled no punches in his scathing verdict, Littler returned the favour in a savage social media post. The Warrington native responded via Instagram, on which he boasts nearly two million followers.
READ MORE: Darts star with sport's riskiest nickname BANNED from using moniker at Ally PallyREAD MORE: Michael van Gerwen's pal expresses concern for star - 'Behind brave face it's emptiness'"Andy Cornwall (apparently a darts coach and does work for Darts Corner or something), seen he said something about (Stephen) Bunting yesterday about where he stands and stuff, and now saying stuff about me," Littler wrote. "What an absolute helmet of a bloke and I don't know him."
The 18-year-old had already defended his decision to compete in the World Youth Championship by saying: "It's the same venue where we professionals play. The likes of Gian van Veen, tour card holder, Keane Barry, tour card holder, but I'm the one who gets it in the neck.
"I didn't win so obviously a lot of people were happy. I just thought I'd come and get used to playing first to five and first to six. That's what I did today and yesterday."
As Littler alluded to, Cornwall went for Bunting with both barrels, slamming the unusual position in which the Liverpudlian stands at the oche. "Commentators again were surprised in the World Grand Prix that Bunting hasn't won more majors," Cornwall began.
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"I'm sat there and I'm not. I'm not surprised at all, and I love Stephen. I used to practice with him years ago and I've played with him a few times, but I'm not surprised.
"He's another Wes Newton. He stands in the wrong place. Sorry, but you're never going to be consistent standing two feet to the right of the oche.
"You're not. You're a brilliant player, a thousand times better than what I ever was. But you are not going to be as consistent as a Michael van Gerwen, a Luke Littler, a Luke Humphries who's standing in the middle.
"Both sides of the board are the same distance. Standing two feet to the right is ridiculous. And you're never going to win multiple majors. Sorry, that's my rant about Stephen."
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