Cam Crabtree has spoken highly of the way Luke Littler reacted after their clash at the PDC World Youth Championship. Crabtree caused a major upset by beating the world number one 6-5 in the semi-finals and later revealed that Littler had shown great sportsmanship.
The 23-year-old Crabtree averaged 97.91 and ended Littler's title hopes after eleven legs. The victory sent 'Shazam' through to the final, where he will face Jan Schmidt at Butlin's Minehead Resort on 29 November.
After sealing the deciding leg, Crabtree celebrated passionately. Shortly afterwards, however, he did not feel entirely comfortable about it. Since he had celebrated his victory within Littler's view, he decided to apologise. "I just turned around and shook his hand, and then we shook the marker's hands and he went off," Crabtree said on the Weekly Dartscast. "I was just celebrating with my dad and my brother, and then afterwards I went over and said, 'Oh, sorry, it's not nice when someone celebrates.'"
Although Littler had already returned to his own table, Crabtree felt it was right to apologise. "Granted, he had gone back to his table, but still, sort of in front of you. So I went over and apologised. I said, 'Sorry, mate, sorry for celebrating.' And he said, 'No, don't be silly.'"
That was not the end of it. Littler congratulated his opponent on the victory and wished him success in the final in Minehead. "He said, 'Well done. Good luck in Minehead,' and 'Well played,' sort of thing. So he was really classy. He was nice. And then he put something nice on Instagram that evening. So, yeah, Luke was great."
Crabtree will face Germany's Jan Schmidt in the World Youth Championship final. For Crabtree, the meeting with Littler did not come as a surprise. Before the tournament, he already knew that the two could meet in the semi-finals if they produced strong results. Littler was the top seed, while Crabtree began the tournament as the number four seed. "I saw he'd be first seed and I'd be fourth seed, so I knew that I would meet him in the semi-final, which I thought was quite exciting," Crabtree explained.
The Englishman also had no intention of avoiding a clash with Littler. On the contrary, if he wanted to win the World Youth Championship, he would rather do so by beating the best player in the field along the way. "At the time, I thought if you're going to win it, you want to... I wouldn't care if I won it, but it's nicer to win it with the best player that can be in it there."
Once the tournament day arrived, however, Crabtree tried not to look too far ahead. "And then on the Monday, I knew that obviously we were on the same side of the draw, but I just thought, get to the semi-final and then worry about it when you get there." When it became clear that Littler had also reached the last four, Crabtree was even pleased. "I actually hoped that he would be there because, as I said, if you win it, I think to beat him makes the win a little bit better."
Remarkably, Crabtree felt little extra pressure when the clash finally arrived. He mainly tried to approach the match like any other. "When I got told I was on board four or whatever it was, and Luke was over there, I was kind of excited. I didn't really feel too nervous. I wasn't thinking, 'Oh, I've got Luke Littler,' and I wasn't really thinking, 'Oh, I'm going to beat Luke Littler.' I just thought, 'Let's go over and play and just have fun,' and it was good."
The victory tasted even sweeter because Crabtree had previously achieved very little against Littler. According to the finalist, he had lost around nine previous meetings with the current world number one. "That is my first win against Luke. I think I lost to him about nine times across the Development Tour and European Tour. I played him at the British Open as well and never beat him." That is why Crabtree could hardly have chosen a better moment to finally beat Littler. "So that was my first one. It's probably the best one I could have won, really."
After his sensational victory, Crabtree now has one final task ahead of him. On 29 November, he will face Schmidt in the World Youth Championship final in Minehead. Alongside the title, the winner will receive the £15,000 top prize.
