Luke Littler won his first senior PDC Tour title on Friday night by beating Michael van Gerwen 8-5 in the final of the Bahrain Masters. Littler enjoyed an incredible night, which began with an unbelievable nine-darter, as he beat Nathan Aspinall, Gerwyn Price and then Van Gerwen on his way to glory. His triumph at the World Seris of Darts opener comes just two weeks after he lost the World Darts Championship final to Luke Humphries at Alexandra Palace.
By beating three-time world champion Van Gerwen, Littler earned a cool £20,000 prize to add to the pedigree of his first senior PDC trophy at The Dome. It is a welcome early birthday present for the English teenager who turns 17 this coming Sunday.
The handsome cash prize comes two weeks after he collected £200,000 for reaching the World Championship final. After beating Man Lok Leung in his first-round match on Thursday, the Warrington sensation started his Friday night in style with his first senior nine-darter.
That came in a 6-3 win over Nathan Aspinall which he followed up by beating former world champion Gerwyn Price 7-3 in the semis. He even threw in a maximum 170 checkout against the Iceman before he passed one of his biggest tests yet by beating Van Gerwen.
Littler said after winning the final: “I’m happy to win. Earlier on in the quarters obviously I hit the nine against Nathan but I played well yesterday and I played well again tonight. No one probably believes it but I’ve not thrown a dart since the world final.
“And yesterday, that was the first proper practice I’ve put in. But it’s all paid off and I’m just happy to win obviously against Michael. He’s still one of the best, he’s the very best.
“I’m just happy to win on my debut. It’s been unbelievable this week. You’ve got us eight in the Premier League and all eight Asian qualifiers were brilliant as well. I’m happy to come out as the winner.”
Littler added: “I’ve not really set any goals for this year. I didn’t even expect to pick this trophy up this week. But it’s been good to come here. Great people, a great crowd once again on my side. But I’m just happy. Like I said, there’s no goal for this year, I just have to see what my darts do.”
While Van Gerwen is a five-time World Series champion, the world No. 2 was outperformed by his opponent, who is 18 years his junior. Littler, ranked 31st in the world, had the darts to win all of the first six legs but found himself tied 3-3 at that stage.
He started the seventh with a 180 and clinched it convincingly in 11 darts to take a 4-3 lead into the interval. And Littler broke throw after the mid-session break to take a two-leg lead.
Van Gerwen responded by breaking straight back, cashing out on 92, and then winning the next leg to tie level at 5-5 after the Nuke missed five darts to restore a two-leg lead.
But Littler regained his composure and held throw to make it 6-5. He then broke the Dutchman once more to move a leg away and took his chance with a 58 cashout to overcome Van Gerwen for glory.
Runner-up Van Gerwen reacted: “I think he had a fantastic tournament as well. I couldn’t produce what I was doing in the other games and you only can punish yourself for that. And that’s how sport works.
“And you have to live with that and you need to make sure you get better for the next one. And I want to thank everyone who made it happen. The organisers, the crowds, I think it’s been a fantastic tournament.
“But of course I’m disappointed. That’s the way sports works. You win some, you lose some. I’ll get him, don’t worry. Everyone says he’s a new kid, but everyone knows why he’s capable.
“The crowd, the television, everyone wants to make him bigger, but he’s already a good player. So I know you’ll want to push him, but let him grow. Let him do his own thing. You have to learn, the crowd has to learn, and everyone involved with television has to learn.
“Don’t push him too much. Of course we know he’s a good player. But give him time, and everything will come, no problem.”
