Luke Littler erupted in fury in the latter stages of his loss to Gian van Veen in the quarter-finals of Thursday's Premier League Darts in Manchester. The 'Nuke' was spotted thrusting his arms into the air before gesturing at the crowd, who in-turn began booing Van Veen.

The 18-year-old returned for the latest leg of the series this week, where he was pitted up against Van Veen in his first game. It came as a repeat of the dramatic World Championship final just a matter of months ago, which Littler won 7-1 at Alexandra Palace.

However, fortune was not on his side at the AO Arena, as it was Van Veen who raced into a 4-1 lead and in need of just one more set to take the match. Despite digging deep to find his way back into the match, turning the tide to make it 5-5, he fluffed his chance at victory on D7.

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Van Veen had the opportunity to take it there and then with D15, falling just inside of the mark.

That ultimately sparked some mean-mugging and heated words between the pair, with Van Veen turning back and looking at Littler and the crowd.

Littler then threw his arms up into the air before gesturing towards a 'Nuke' favouring crowd - given he hails from Warrington, a stones throw from Manchester.

The crowd then started to jeer toward Van Veen.

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However, their best efforts to put the 23-year-old off his stride bore no fruit, as he checked out to oust Littler from the tournament and advance to the semis.

As a result of the moment of tension, Littler and Van Veen shared a loose and very brief handshake after the match, before the Englishman applauded the crowd in attendance before exiting stage right while shaking his head and uttering something to himself.

Van Veen was also spotted pulling a face and shrugging a shoulder as Littler erratically moved past him at speed.

And fans taking to social media were less than impressed by the two-time world champion's unsporting conduct, venting their grievances online.

One wrote: "Time the PDC had a word with him about his arrogant behaviour. Won't dare though will you," while a second added: "Sore loser...Starts to annoy many people."

A third said: "I'm glad van Veen won that after Littler acting the tough guy, then bottling it," as a fourth argued: "Never seen Littler behave so poorly."

As a result of the 6-5 win, Van Veen will now take on Josh Rock in the semi-finals of the event. The Northern Irishman cruised past Jonny Clayton 6-4 in his mirroring quarter-final match, as he continues to impress on the PDC circuit.