RICARDO PIETRECZKO has doubled down on his belief that Luke Littler is “arrogrant”.
The German made the claim after losing their pulsating Belgian Darts semi-final match last March.
Pietreczko gesticulated to Littler after the final leg, which prompted the teenage sensation to tell him to “get out” before he celebrated to the crowd.
Moments after the incident, Pietreczko took to social media and wrote: “I appreciated how he plays at his age, but I hope arrogance punishes him.”
The pair were much more cordial with one another in their Maidenhead meeting late last month.
But it hasn’t changed Pietreczko’s stance on ‘The Nuke’.
‘Pikachu’ said: “As far as Luke’s demeanour is concerned, I still think he comes across as a bit arrogant.
“But the way he plays, he can get away with it sometimes.”
Littler, 18, accused Pietreczko of trying to play mind games in their most recent meeting.
But Pietreczko insists Littler took his comments the wrong way, saying: “I said, ‘I’m glad I survived the two sessions.
List of all-time Darts World Champions
BELOW is a list of darts world champions by year.
The list does not include winners from the pre-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) era or BDO world champions.
That means Raymond van Barneveld, for example, is only listed once – Barney also won four BDO titles – and none of Eric Bristow’s five BDO titles are included.
- 1994 – Dennis Priestley
- 1995 – Phil Taylor
- 1996 – Phil Taylor (2)
- 1997 – Phil Taylor (3)
- 1998 – Phil Taylor (4)
- 1999 – Phil Taylor (5)
- 2000 – Phil Taylor (6)
- 2001 – Phil Taylor (7)
- 2002 – Phil Taylor (8)
- 2003 – John Part
- 2004 – Phil Taylor (9)
- 2005 – Phil Taylor (10)
- 2006 – Phil Taylor (11)
- 2007 – Raymond van Barneveld
- 2008 – John Part (2)
- 2009 – Phil Taylor (12)
- 2010 – Phil Taylor (13)
- 2011 – Adrian Lewis
- 2012 – Adrian Lewis (2)
- 2013 – Phil Taylor (14)
- 2014 – Michael van Gerwen
- 2015 – Gary Anderson
- 2016 – Gary Anderson (2)
- 2017 – Michael van Gerwen (2)
- 2018 – Rob Cross
- 2019 – Michael van Gerwen (3)
- 2020 – Peter Wright
- 2021 – Gerwyn Price
- 2022 – Peter Wright (2)
- 2023 – Michael Smith
- 2024 – Luke Humphries
- 2025 – Luke Littler
Most World Titles
- 14 – Phil Taylor
- 3 – Michael van Gerwen
- 2 – John Part, Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright
- 1 – Dennis Priestley, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Luke Humphries, Luke Littler
“‘I was just hoping to get one leg—now I’m standing here with five.’
“It was meant as a joke, just the way I am. And Luke apparently took it differently.”
Pietreczko, 31, is adamant his so-called feud with Littler has been over-exaggerated.
He said: “I think it was made bigger by the media than it actually was.
“We were relaxed with each other and had fun backstage.
“I think you could also see that I had a lot of fun on stage.”
