Luke Littler rival dubbed ‘Pikachu’ who squared up to teen quits after just ONE LEG of match at Hungarian Darts Trophy
RICARDO PIETRECZKO has quit the Hungarian Darts Trophy – just one leg into his last-16 match.
The German – who earlier this year had beef with Luke Littler – dropped out of Sunday’s contest with Ross Smith.
Pietreczko faced Smudger in Bucharest for a place in the quarter-finals.
But after Smith had cruised to the first leg, the 29-year-old forfeited the contest due to a wrist injury.
Pietreczko suffered the niggle before the match and attempted to play through it.
The star – known as Pikachu – later wrote on Instagram: “As many of you have probably noticed, I unfortunately had to stop playing today.
“I am truly sorry. I did everything I could to block out the pain and carry on playing, but I just couldn’t go on.
“It was with a heavy heart that I had to make the decision to end the game.
“My wrist hurts a lot and now I will do everything I can to get fit again quickly.”
Pietreczko added he hoped to be back for the Swiss Darts Trophy on September 27.
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Littler is not appearing in Bucharest after dropping out of the competition late last week.
The 17-year-old sensation and Pietreczko were embroiled in a bizarre spat following a game in March.
Littler beat the German 7-3 in their match at the Belgian Darts Open on his way to the title.
Following the contest, Pietreczko squared up to Littler on stage before unleashing a verbal volley in his direction.
Littler responded with a two-word salvo but was later branded “arrogant” by Pietreczko.
The German wrote on his Instagram page: “So I appreciated a lot that you can play such a game at such an age. But I hope that arrogance punishes him.”
Inside Littler's massive rise
LUKE LITTLER has taken the darts world by storm since exploding onto the scene at the PDC World Championship at the beginning of the year.
The Nuke reached the final on his Ally Pally debut at just 16 years of age – smashing records along the way.
He has then gone on to win a host of PDC events and the Premier League title – which he claimed at the O2 Arena by beating world champion Luke Humphries in May.
He also finished his first season in the World Series as the No1 ranked player.
He has joined Jude Bellingham on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list.
And the teenage titan even had to snub an invite from the WWE.
The Sun exclusively revealed that Littler is plotting to create a fitness empire.
He is also cashing in away from the Oche thanks to an Instagram side hustle.
And he’s even the face of a brand new cereal.
But he is newly single after splitting from girlfriend Eloise Milburn following a 10-month relationship.
Check out all of our latest Luke Littler stories.
Littler responded: “That game, I don’t know what I did wrong.
“A lot of people were saying it was when I was on the 147 finish and I went for Treble 19.
“I then tried to go for tops and bull because I love tops. If I had hit the tops, I would have fancied myself for the bull. I missed it.
“He let that get to him throughout the game. I had the job to do.
“Ever since I’ve burst on to the scene, I know that every player wants to beat me.”
Littler went on to claim every player now sees him as a “cup final.”
Referencing the incident, he added: “I’ve no idea what I did wrong, no idea what he said.”