Luke Littler admitted that his night was ruined by Manchester United after securing back-to-back Premier League wins on Thursday. The 17-year-old breezed past Gerwyn Price in the final to overtake Luke Humphries at the top of the table after beating Michael van Gerwen and Nathan Aspinall earlier in the night.
Littler raced into a 3-0 lead over Price, who was fresh off a nine-dart finish in his semi-final victory over Michael Smith. The Welshman managed to win three of the next five legs to cut the deficit to 5-3 before Littler sealed the match with a double top, wrapping up another fine night in the Premier League.
Speaking after his second Premier League triumph in as many weeks, Littler admitted that his night was soured by United’s dramatic defeat at Chelsea with two late goals from Cole Palmer securing a 4-3 victory for the Blues.
He said: “I’m glad I won but I just saw United concede two in two minutes! I am glad to win. I have settled into it. The first 5-6 weeks I won the first game and then lost and lost, but winning last week gave me so much confidence coming to Manchester.
“I saw he [Price] was 4-0 up [against Smith], averaging 123, I was like: ‘Stop it, stop it Gezzy’. But I then focused and practiced, I left it until the end. I go whatever way I feel on the board. If I am comfortable, I will try to go for it. Tonight, we did all our own thing.
“Last week the practice paid off, same as tonight, it has paid off. There are six or seven weeks to go, I have to plug away. Get two or three points each week and I am sure I will make the play-offs.”
Littler is known to be a huge United fan and was invited to their Carrington base following his run to the World Darts Championship final in January. He took part in a nine-dart challenge with Harry Maguire and Christian Eriksen, while he was also given a signed shirt by his favourite player, Alejandro Garnacho.
The teenage superstar added that he would love nothing more than to win a major title and parade the trophy around Old Trafford, saying: “Hopefully, I can win the world championship or even a major trophy this year, one of the five or six majors that are on offer, and take it to Old Trafford.”
