Luke Littler ticks off another major title at Players Championship Finals
By PA Sport Staff
World number one Luke Littler won his first Players Championship Finals title with a 11-8 win over Nathan Aspinall.
The 18-year-old overtook rival Luke Humphries at the top of the rankings on the way to victory in last week’s Grand Slam of Darts and clinched his maiden Minehead crown on Sunday.
Littler reached the tournament’s showpiece with a 11-8 win over Gerwyn Price in the semi-finals, while Aspinall secured his spot with a dominant 11-2 win over Jermaine Wattimena in their final four meeting.
Sunday’s final saw Littler storm ahead to take a 5-2 lead, but Aspinall continued to threaten and a brilliant fightback saw him throw a 127 checkout on the way to closing in on the world number one to trail 9-8.
However, Littler remained composed and hit a checkout of 88 to secure the title, leaving only the World Masters and European Championship missing from his collection of major honours.
Littler told ITV: “It wasn’t easy. I didn’t put myself high enough in the rankings, so it wasn’t easy to get to this final.
“But I’m very proud to get this one ticked off the list. Now there’s only two more to go.
“Nathan has been playing very well, been playing well for a good few weeks now, but I just had to dig in at the end there. I know I played brilliant all tournament and I’m glad I got the job done.”
Victory on Sunday was Littler’s sixth televised ranking title of the year and comes on the eve of next month’s World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace.
He added: “Early on in my career I was just being myself, but now I’m starting to let out a bit more emotion, starting to get into the games. It’s still paying off.
“Glad I’ve got this and now we look on to next month.”
Littler’s route to the final saw him secure a 10-5 victory over Chris Dobey in the last eight earlier on Sunday afternoon.
The 18-year-old produced a high match average of almost 108, hitting nine maximums, as he saw off fifth seed Dobey, who faded during the latter stages in the wake of more heavy scoring and clinical finishing from the world champion.
A meeting with Price followed in the semi-finals after the Welshman had earned a 10-6 win over Daryl Gurney earlier.
Littler had taken a commanding 5-2 lead, but Price responded with a 114 checkout to keep the pressure on and he reduced the deficit to 7-6 in an entertaining battle.
The world number one eventually took control of the contest and finished with a 108.48 average to book his spot in the final.
Aspinall held off a spirited fightback from Josh Rock to close out a 10-8 win in the quarter-finals, having raced into a 5-1 lead before the Northern Irishman rallied to level at 8-8.
He then eased to the final with a dominant win over Wattimena, which included throwing a 10-dart leg to take a 5-1 lead.
Prior to the Players Championship final, Gian van Veen defended his World Youth Championship title with a 6-3 win over Beau Greaves.
