Luke Littler took his first-ever night win on the Premier League Darts circuit on Thursday night, doing so in style in front of a raucous Belfast crowd.
The 17-year-old was the bolter in this season's Premier League line up after sensational performances during his run to the World Championship final over the Christmas period.
Littler has consistently been there or thereabouts during the Premier League season thus far, reaching the nightly final on night two in Berlin, and reaching the semi-finals on five additional occasions.
Thursday night was the first night he finally got over the line to take a nightly win, as the crowd in the SSE Arena willed him on to victory.
After the first four legs of the final, however, it looked as though it was going to be yet more disappointment for Littler, as his countryman Nathan Aspinall raced into a 3-1 lead in Belfast.
Littler remained calm and ultimately fought his way to victory, thanks in no small part to an outrageous 125 checkout which sent the crowd wild.
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Luke Littler amazes with first Premier League Darts win in Belfast
With Littler still trailing Aspinall 3-2, the 17-year-old star was left with a tricky 125 checkout to level the match.
The youngster made the checkout look easy, nailing a Bull-25-Bull combo to tie the game up at 3-3.
BULL, 25, BULL! 🤯
OUTRAGEOUS from Luke Littler! 😂
The 17-year-old produces another roof-raising finish to level at three apiece against Aspinall!
📺 https://t.co/gbUt9q25Jh#PLDarts | Final pic.twitter.com/YpXz3x8spE— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) March 28, 2024
The Belfast crowd, deep in a rendition of 'Olé, Olé,' suddenly blasted out their approval for Littler's outstanding checkout. Even Aspinall appeared hugely impressed and shared a congratulatory high-five with his opponent.
Though the Bull-25-Bull combo was undoubtedly the highlight of the night for the crowd in the SSE Arena, it was not even Littler's highest checkout of the night.
During the very first leg of the game, Littler had finished on 136, laying down a marker of what was to come later in the decider
What a hold from Littler 🎯 pic.twitter.com/yHVrsRznTn
— Sky Sports Darts (@SkySportsDarts) March 28, 2024
Littler did not look back from his 125 checkout, storming to a 6-4 victory in the final to take his first night win of the season in style.
Luke Littler gets his first nightly win in the Premier League 🏆 pic.twitter.com/OSqnPPLP51
— Sky Sports Darts (@SkySportsDarts) March 28, 2024
Not only did Littler win the final in dramatic fashion against Aspinall, but he had also knocked out the two frontrunners of the competition on his way to the decider.
Luke Humphries and Michael van Gerwen have been dominant forces in this season's Premier League, winning three nights each from the opening eight.
In Belfast, Littler first dispatched of Humphries 6-5 in the quarter-finals, before decisively beating van Gerwen 6-3 in the last four.
There was no doubt that Littler was a popular winner with the Belfast crowd, and he was thrilled when speaking to Sky Sports after concluding his round.
🗣️"I put more practice in and it's paid off"
Luke Littler fought back against Nathan Aspinall to claim his first Premier League night victory in Belfast 🎯pic.twitter.com/jHqyDfz1R0— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) March 29, 2024
The Night 9 winner said that he had been experimenting with changes to his throw - alterations he felt bore fruit on Thursday night:
I'm just happy to win! It's my first one.
As people may have seen, I've changed my throw. [I'm] just taking that little bit of extra time and then release the next two.
I've put more practice in and it's paid off.
Luke Littler now moves up to second in the Premier League table after his first victory. Littler sits on 18 points, four points behind leader Luke Humphries. Michael van Gerwen and Nathan Aspinall complete the four play-off places.
Littler will be reunited with van Gerwen when the pair meet in the quarter-finals on Night 10, next Thursday in Manchester.
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