Luke Littler has revealed that Martin Lukeman got it wrong when describing his pre-match meal before the Grand Slam of Darts final. The Nuke picked up his first major TV ranking title with an emphatic 16-3 triumph, which saw him take home the £150,000 prize.
After the match, Lukeman admitted that he was shocked by Littler’s eating habits before he took to the stage in Wolverhampton.
“He’s absolutely ridiculous,” said Lukeman. “He has a Boost bar, a meal deal and a curry, walks up there and smashes them in like that. I’m stood there like: ‘What?’.
“So 98 per cent of the players are down there doing what they do. He’s actually had a curry, a Boost, a couple of little, what are those little sweets? He’s eating Squashies at half time. But I take my hat off to him, he’s absolutely awesome.”
Littler, however, appeared to reject Lukeman’s version of events while discussing his Grand Slam triumph on talkSPORT.
“It was after the semi-final,” he clarified. “I didn’t want to go back to the hotel, we stayed. Had chicken katsu curry, had three or four breaks in the final so I had squash to keep my energy up.”
Littler’s victory saw him move to fifth place in the Order of Merit, having been ranked 164th a year ago. He also became the third player to average over 100 in every match of a Grand Slam, following in the footsteps of Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen.
The 17-year-old made a slow start to proceedings, with Lukeman winning the first two legs to spark hope of a major upset. However, his teenage opponent went on to claim 15 legs in a row before finishing the job to secure the honours.
Reflecting on his emphatic victory, Littler told Sky Sports: “I’m so glad to win it. I’ve been playing well all week. It’s been a long week but it’s paid off.
“This is one of the ones I wanted to win. My major record isn’t the best but I just wanted to go deep. Obviously, it’s even better now I’ve won it and it shows I’m still here.”
Littler’s focus will now turn to the upcoming World Darts Championship, where he will be hoping to go one better than last year following his run to the final and eventual defeat at the hands of Luke Humphries.
