Luke Littler: Man Utd result inspired Premier League Darts win in Manchester
- Published
- comments
Luke Littler won his first Premier League Darts night in Belfast last week
Teenager Luke Littler made it successive Premier League Darts night wins with a 6-3 victory over Gerwyn Price in Manchester.
Littler, making his debut this year in the eight-player tournament, won his maiden night in Belfast last Thursday.
The 17-year-old, who rose to prominence with his run to the World Championship final in January, now tops the table.
The Manchester United fan said his team's 4-3 loss to Chelsea before his final gave him motivation to win.
Littler said he watched the Premier League football match backstage as United, who had been 3-2 up in the final minutes, conceded twice deep into stoppage time.
"I was in a bad mood. I was like, 'I'm winning this now'. It gave me motivation," the teenager said. "There were a few Manchester United fans on the walkout so I was glad to win."
Littler raced into a three-leg lead against Price, who hit a nine-darter in his semi-final, and saw out the win.
The five points for the win puts Littler in a strong position to qualify for the play-offs at London's O2 Arena on 23 May.
"I'm glad I won," Littler told Sky Sports. "I've definitely settled into it [the Premier League]. The first five or six weeks, I won then lost and lost. I've grown in confidence.
"There's still six weeks to go, but I'm sure if I keep getting two or three points a week I will get into the play-offs."
Littler was spectacular in Belfast last week but, despite not reaching those levels in front of a raucous 11,000 crowd, this was another reminder of the innate talent he has.
He beat Michael van Gerwen 6-3 in the quarter-finals, despite only averaging 93.15, but it was another disappointing night for the Dutchman who has now lost five of his past six quarter-finals.
Littler faced Nathan Aspinall in the semi-finals, and unusually he probably had the crowd against him with The Asp from nearby Stockport.
It was again scrappy from Littler, who averaged 97.63, but two 100-plus checkouts saw him edge past the in-form Aspinall with a 6-4 win.
Price was superb in his quarter-final and semi-final, averaging more than 100 in both, and taking out 10 of 16 doubles.
Ultimately the strong start that Littler had in the final saw him get over the line, but Price has renewed his chances of making the play-offs.
"Luke [Littler] coming along and doing what he's doing has kind of changed my opinion about how things should be done," said World Championship semi-finalist Wayne Mardle to Sky Sports.
"He's opened my eyes up. He's not sticking to convention.
"Tonight we've seen more of the real Luke Littler than we've ever seen. What he did last week was great, but he won differently this week, it was just honest darts. It was just 'I love this'. I thought he was magnificent and I want to see more of that."
Elsewhere, there was a second successive quarter-final exit for world number one and world champion Luke Humphries, and the Crewe man has now lost top spot.
Peter Wright suffered an eighth first-round defeat and remains rooted to the foot of the table.
Night 10 results
Quarter-finals
Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Rob Cross
Luke Littler 6-3 Michael van Gerwen
Michael Smith 6-3 Luke Humphries
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Peter Wright
Semi-finals
Little 6-4 Aspinall
Price 6-3 Smith
Final
Littler 6-3 Price
Premier League Darts table
Premier League Darts format
The winner of each night earns five points, the runner-up three points and the two losing semi-finalists two points.
The top four players after the 16th night qualify for the Premier League Play-offs in London on 23 May.
Premier League Darts prize money
The overall champion will collect £275,000 out of a total prize fund of £1m.
The runner-up receives £125,000 and the losing semi-finalists £85,000.
The winner of each of the 16 rounds receives £10,000.
Night 11 fixtures
11 April in Birmingham
Quarter-finals
Peter Wright v Luke Humphries
Rob Cross v Luke Littler
Gerwyn Price v Michael Smith
Michael van Gerwen v Nathan Aspinall