Luke Littler bounced back from his surprise Players Championship 2 defeat at the hands of bus driver Radek Szaganski by thrashing him in the ET1 Qualifier on Wednesday. Littler threw a nine-darter and just missed out on another at the Players Championship 1 on Monday as he claimed the title and pocketed £15,000 in prize money.
The 17-year-old returned to the same venue on Tuesday for another crack at picking up a trophy but lost a final-leg thriller to Szaganski, who booked his place in the next round with a 6-5 victory. The pair faced each other again in the ET1 Qualifier on Wednesday, with Littler avenging his earlier defeat in emphatic fashion.
The teenage superstar cruised to a 6-0 win over Szaganski with a three-dart average of 99.1, bouncing back from his Players Championship 2 loss with a dominant performance. His opponent was simply unable to match the high standards being set by Littler, averaging 85.83 across the six legs.
Littler won his next two matches against Mervyn King and Maik Kuivenhoven to make the top 10 and book his place at next month’s Belgian Open alongside another nine qualifiers. He is currently too low in the world rankings to be automatically seeded for the event, meaning he had to participate in the ET1 Qualifier to ensure his spot.
Despite that, Littler lost a German Darts Grand Prix qualifier in the ET2 Qualifier. He lost to Jim Williams from Wales in a last-leg shootout in the top 40.
It remains to be seen if Littler will be able to maintain his impressive form by winning the Belgian Open when he takes to the stage in Wieze next month. He has already clinched two senior titles, the Bahrain Masters and the opening Players Championship event, since reaching the World Darts Championship final in January.
Littler will return to action on Thursday against Gerwyn Price on night three of the Premier League tour, which is being held in Glasgow. He is currently third in the table, behind only Michael Smith and Michael van Gerwen, with Price fourth after winning two games from the opening two nights.
Mark Webster, who won the BDO World Championship in 2008, believes that Littler is destined to win plenty of titles if he keeps thriving under the pressure of facing world-class opponents on a weekly basis.
“It won’t be a question of if he wins titles, but how many he will lift, because he’s that good,” Webster told Sky Sports. “I’m excited to see his progress but I’m also interested to see the response from the other players as well.
“Michael van Gerwen has responded well in the two matches he’s played against Littler in the Netherlands and last week in Berlin. It’s up to the others to follow suit now, because there will be defeats and speedbumps on the way for Littler, but it’s how he responds and he’s responded pretty well so far.”
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