Luke Littler FINALLY wins maiden Premier League darts title at ninth attempt with epic victory over Nathan Aspinall
LUKE LITTLER has won his first ever Premier League night as he beat Nathan Aspinall in a thrilling final.
It has taken the teenage star nine attempts to claim a crown – but he finally did so in style in front of 9,000 punters at the SSE Arena.
The Warrington ace can now celebrate with a £10,000 Luke of the Irish bonus.
Showbiz checkouts with a change of throwing style, Littler looked at home on the biggest stage and showed no signs of nerves as he beat the top three in the standings coming into tonight.
The 17-year-old came into the Belfast showpiece, having edged Luke Humphries in a deciding leg thriller in the quarter-final.
Cool Hand had won three consecutive nights in Brighton, Nottingham and Dublin.
The win meant a lot to Littler, who punched the air in delight and roared out in celebration towards his dad Anthony and a close pal.
It was an entertaining, high-quality contest with high-scoring Littler throwing seven 180s across the 11 legs.
Littler then demolished Michael van Gerwen 6-3 in last four to book his spot in the final.
As for Aspinall, who won week five in Exeter, he came into the night-ending match after beating Gerwyn Price in a decider and Peter Wright 6-2.
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Littler got off to a fast start in the final, brilliantly checking out from 136 in the opening leg.
The Asp was under pressure in the second but held his nerve and let out a huge roar as he levelled the clash at 1-1.
A poor leg from Luke the Nuke followed as he was broken by Aspinall.
But the wonderkid still showed his showman side as he made a hilarious looking gesture after missing the 20 by a mile.
Littler was not done yet though, coming back into the game with a sensational double bullseye finish to break back and equalise 3-3.
And from that point on, Littler oozed confidence and raced ahead as he broke his rival’s throw to make it 5-3.
But Aspinall stayed alive and secured a break as the youngster threw for the title.
He showed that he is a sportsman at heart by telling the rowdy Northern Ireland crowd to be quiet when the 32-year-old was throwing in leg nine.
Littler engineered match darts and missed three before securing victory 6-4.
This result catapulted him up to second place in the table and boosted his prospects of making the Prem playoffs at the O2 Arena come late May.
The Nuke later revealed he had tinkered with his throw slightly and put in the hours backstage.
He said: “I’m happy to win, it’s my first one. I’m glad to win against a good friend.
“As people may have seen, I have changed my throw, trying to take that extra bit of time and then release the next two.
“Sometimes I rush my darts. I am taking more time before releasing the next dart.
“I have practised more for this and it has paid off. I had a good practice game before coming out with Rob Cross. It got me up for this.
“If you don’t enjoy it, you don’t perform. You won’t play well. Every arena had 5,000-plus fans. I cannot wait for next week in Manchester. It’s close to my home.”