Luke Littler was braggadocious in victory after downing Michael van Gerwen in Birmingham’s nightly Premier League Darts final. The teenage talent has now mathematically secured his place in finals night at The O2 later this month, and he says he will enjoy watching his rivals scrap it out to join him there.
Littler needed last-leg deciders to get past Stephen Bunting and Nathan Aspinall earlier in the night, but he made quicker work of three-time world champion Van Gerwen with a 6-4 win. ‘The Nuke’ became the first player to win five Premier League nights in a single season under the competition’s current format, which moved him nine points clear at the top of the table.
While he can afford to take his foot off the gas, others are still in the heat of battle. Second-place Luke Humphries still has a healthy cushion, but Gerwyn Price, Van Gerwen, Aspinall and Rob Cross are all in the hunt for two remaining places.
And Littler took the opportunity to needle all of his rivals after coming out on top in Birmingham, including Van Gerwen, who was visibly deflated after narrowly missing out on what would have been his first nightly win of the season.
“I’m nine points clear, away from Luke [Humphries], I’m very happy at the minute and confident I’ll stay at the top,” Littler told Sky Sports. “There’s still a few weeks to play.
“It’s getting a bit nitty-gritty at fourth and fifth with Nathan and Michael. I’ve done Nathan a bit of a favour [by beating Van Gerwen] there. It’s going to be a good few weeks watching them scrap it out for the top four while I’m cruising at the top.”
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