Luke Littler has prevailed on Week Nine of the Premier League in Belfast, claiming his first victory of the competition.
Although the 17-year-old has spent much of the competition placed anywhere between second and fifth, he reached the halfway stage of the tournament without a win in a final to his name.
However, that changed on Thursday night as he took the prized scalps of Luke Humphries and Michael van Gerwen before overcoming Nathan Aspinall in the final.
World champion Humphries had been hoping to win for an an unprecedented four weeks in a row, but he was edged out in a deciding leg by the player who he beat in the Alexandra Palace final in January.
Van Gerwen had produced his best performance for a number of weeks in seeing off Michael Smith in the quarter-finals, sealing a 6-4 triumph with a 150 checkout, but he was powerless to prevent Littler running out a 6-3 victor in their last-four contest.
That set up a showdown with Aspinall, who had defeated Gerwyn Price in a deciding leg and posted a 6-2 win over Peter Wright to reach the final.
LITTLER THE BOSS IN BELFAST! 👏
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) March 28, 2024
It's a landmark night for Luke Littler, who secures his first nightly victory in the Premier League!
The teenage prodigy closes out a dramatic win over Nathan Aspinall to claim the Night Nine spoils! 🏆
📺 https://t.co/gbUt9q25Jh#PLDarts pic.twitter.com/33c8KKFI0v
Although the opening six legs of the contest were shared, it was Littler who was producing the eye-catching shots, taking out finishes of 136 and 125 respectively as he defied a 3-1 deficit.
Littler surprisingly failed to hit a single 180 in the final, but he found himself in a 5-3 lead, and although Aspinall saved the match with a 70 checkout, Littler completed the job in the next leg.
As a result of his win, Littler now sits in second spot, four points clear of Humphries and one point ahead of Van Gerwen in third with Aspinall completing the top four.
Smith is now three points adrift of the playoff spots, and Rob Cross five points behind as a result of losing to Wright earlier in the night, while Price and Wright are cut adrift at the bottom.
