Luke Littler won’t be going down the conventional route if he gets another chance to throw a nine-dart leg at the PDC World Championship. The 17-year-old was at his scintillating best before Christmas at Ally Pally, setting yet another new marker in his 3-1 win over Ryan Meikle.
He played the fourth set with a tournament record 140.91 set average, throwing just 32 darts in three legs.
But he also agonisingly missed out on the perfect leg, at one point throwing seven successive treble 20’s, before nailing treble 19 only to see his attempt at double 12 push the wire.
Littler’s reaction said it all afterwards, using his fingers to suggest he was just millimetres away. He already has four perfect legs to his name on the PDC tour this year, including in his Premier League final win over Luke Humphries.
The 17-year-old has also regularly shown his willingness to experiment during matches. Even against Meikle, when left needing to take out 80 with two darts to claim the first set, he pulled off a ‘double double tops’ finish.
And now ‘the Nuke’ has acknowledged that there is a different way to produce a nine-dart leg. Rather than target treble 19 with the penultimate dart, players can also take out treble 17, which would leave double 15.
“I didn’t even think about the 51,” Littler has now admitted. “Throughout the game, the cover shots were OK. I left 265 a few times and hit the treble 19 well, but I might have to take a moment to think about the treble 17.”
No player has previously notched five nine-dart legs in a PDC campaign, although Littler has now missed multiple chances to break the record. During the world championship, every perfect leg is also worth £60,000 to a fortunate fan in the crowd.
“It’s definitely becoming a frustration in a good way,” Littler said. “Obviously, as soon as you make the switch to the treble 19, your eyes light up. I heard the camera pan around to the winner (of the money), so I’m sorry whoever you are. I’ll try again.”
Christian Kist has produced the only nine-dart leg so far at Ally Pally, in his 3-1 defeat against Madars Razma on December 18. The Dutchman triggered the unique Paddy Power £180,000 bonus scheme in place at the tournament, part of their The BIGGER 180 campaign.
It meant Kist himself took home £60,000, far exceeding the prize money he received for simply qualifying for the tournament. Charity partner Prostate Cancer UK received the same amount, with the remaining money going to a random fan called Kris, from Sutton.
