Luke Littler: Teenager hits nine-dart finish and wins Players Championship on debut
- Published
Luke Littler won the Bahrain Masters in January and has now added a Players Championship title
Teenager Luke Littler hit a nine-dart finish on his way to winning the title on his Players Championship debut.
The 17-year-old beat Ryan Searle 8-7 in the final in Wigan on Monday to secure his first ranking tournament victory and continue his ascent in the sport.
Littler hit the nine-darter in his 6-1 win over Michele Turetta in their last-32 tie earlier in the day.
"I know my game is there and I can beat anyone, and I'm happy I have won," Littler said after the win over Searle.
The nine-dart finish was Littler's second of the season - he also produced a perfect leg against Nathan Aspinall at the Bahrain Masters on the way to winning that non-ranking tournament.
Littler said his time on the development tour, which offers young players the chance to compete in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, had helped in dealing with the quick turnaround of matches.
The Englishman, who won seven games in about five hours on Monday, told PDC Darts:, external "I think the development tour has helped me really well, but I can actually throw really well on the floor, as well as on the stage.
"I've said plenty of times I've not really got any goals for this year, I just want to see where they go, and after my first few matches, I was playing really well.
"Like I said, my game is there, I know I can win one of these - which I have done on my first attempt."
Littler has experienced a rapid rise in his career since reaching the World Championship final in January at the age of 16.
He moved up to number 31 in the world rankings, securing himself a PDC tour card and a place at every ProTour event this year.
After winning his first PDC senior trophy in Bahrain by beating three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen, Littler faced the Dutchman, 34, in the final of the Dutch Masters, but was beaten 8-6.
The pair met again on night two of the Premier League in Berlin, with Van Gerwen beating Littler in the deciding leg of a thrilling final.
Littler, who collects £15,000 in prize money for his victory in Wigan, hit seven 180s and averaged just under 110 against compatriot Searle, who himself compiled an impressive 111.71 average.
Searle, 36, broke back against Littler to take the match to 7-7, before the teenager checked out on double 20 in the deciding leg to seal victory.
Littler said his ambitions now were to qualify for the World Matchplay and World Grand Prix events - two of the sport's majors.
"That's what I want to try and do - qualifying for everything, because that's what I have to do," said Littler.
"I have to play on the floor tournaments and then hopefully qualify for everything else."
Littler was not the only player in Wigan on Monday to achieve a nine-darter - when a player scores 501 with the minimum number of darts required - or even the only teenager.
Two fellow competitors managed nine-darters, with 18-year-old Englishman Leighton Bennett doing so against Lukas Wenig and 50-year-old Northern Irish player Mickey Mansell sealing the feat against Krzysztof Ratajski.