Luke Littler hit back at jeers from the Ally Pally crowd by thanking fans for ‘paying for my prize money’ in an extraordinary on-stage interview after reaching the World Darts Championship quarter finals.
The world No 1, bidding to become the first back-to-back winner of the Sid Waddell Trophy since Gary Anderson a decade ago, to reach the last eight for a third consecutive year.
Littler produced a 106.58 average and delivered 17 maximums - the most in a match by an individual in this year's event - during an engaging contest, where 'The Nuke' dropped his first sets of the tournament before closing out victory.
The defending champion appeared agitated at various points and offered multiple passionate celebrations during an eventful match, with Littler repeating the phrase 'what now?' at the crowd after completing his win in the final leg of the sixth set.
Cross had the support of a strong section of a raucous crowd after fighting back from 3-1 down to almost push the match into a final-set decider, with Littler suggesting he had been unaffected by a mixed reception and boos from some of the fans.
"Am I bothered? Really, am I bothered?! Really not bothered!" Littler told Your Site on-stage after his win, which set up a quarter-final clash with either Luke Woodhouse or Krzysztof Ratajski.
"Can I just say one thing? You guys pay for the tickets and you pay for my prize money so thank you, thank you for my money! Thank you for booing me. Thank you - come on!
"I've just seen the stats then but I wasn't really thinking of anything - I just wanted to win the game. It was hostile, nobody wanted me to win, but yet again I proved them wrong."
Littler's post-match interview resulted in him being criticised by fans and pundits on social media, while the 18-year-old was pleased to come through a tough test and remain the overwhelming favourite to claim a second world title.
"The fans did what they did and I reacted as any other player would really," Littler added in his press conference. "I think I might have reacted a bit too early after the first set but I just had to get on with the job.
"When I went 3-1 up, I felt like I was really in it. Obviously Rob [Cross] found his feet, but I just had to get rid of him.
"It is what it is. They [the crowds] want the underdog to win and they want the favourites to go out. I just had to get out of the way and get my job done.
"I'm only a few games away from lifting the trophy once again but the performance tonight just really doesn't feel like a 106 and a half. It was just that much adrenaline going through me, that much emotion, the anger, but I can say I'm glad that I won."
Later Littler said he has no regrets over his comments: "I mean, it was just pure emotion, I said what I said, the fans, I was going to say it last year at some point.
"They paid for the tickets and pretty much they're paying for our prize money, so yeah, I'm not regretting anything."
Former World Darts Championship semi-finalist Wayne Mardle, speaking to Your Site:
"That [interview] was just odd]. It was like he was looking for something and I just think he was getting antagonised.
"It is ridiculous how easy he makes it [darts] look. He just kept doing it and fair play to Rob Cross - he had no form and to leave playing that well, against what he was up against, it was an incredible game.
"Luke has just got these levels under pressure. There is nothing that he can't do on a board and there is no situation that you are in as his opponent that is safe. You are never safe.
"He can hit all those 180s, those 177s and his doubling under pressure is world-class. He does it under pressure when he has to do it - he doesn't fail. Littler is getting to the point where you have never got him.
"Rob was giving it to him [Littler], Rob was serving it up and we thought it could get spicy. You want that and you could see how he was acting at the end - he [Littler] was being annoyed and angered through that game.
"We haven't really seen that [emotion] from him. We know he has got something in him that he wants to shut the crowd [up], but you never ever want them against you because it can be a long and lonely road - just ask Gerwyn Price about that."
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