Teen superstar Luke Littler claimed the title on his Poland Darts Masters debut with a stunning performance on Saturday night.
The 17-year-old sensation dispatched Peter Wright 6-3 and 2023 world champion Michael Smith 7-6 before beating Rob Cross comprehensively 8-3 in the final in front of a crowd of 9,000 at the PreZero Arena.
As he moved 4-1 up in the showpiece against Cross, Littler nailed a 164 monster checkout, proving he lives for the big occasion.
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But it was not all easy for Littler, on Friday he survived a late scare to see off UK Open semi-finalist Adam Gawlas, who fought back from 5-1 down, taking three successive legs to threaten to send the ‘The Nuke’ packing.
Littler, though, took care of business 6-4 in the end and showed no such nerves on Saturday as he dispatched three of the world’s top 10 to claim victory – including a bang-in form Cross who was in the final of a World Series tournament for the third time this month.
Cross beat Sebastian Bialecki 6-1, Stephen Bunting 6-4 and Michael van Gerwen 7-2 en route to the final, but he found Littler in irrepressible form.
A tight fourth leg proved to be the turning point as Littler broke his throw with 16-darter before compounding the misery for Cross with a 164 finish to move 4-1 ahead. Although Cross punched back, Littler again managed a 121 finish in the seventh leg and claimed a romping victory to add to a growing list of honours.
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Currently, Littler is the Premier League Darts champion, as well as Junior and World Youth champion. He adds the Poland Darts Masters to the Bahrain title he won in January as well as being the current Belgian and Austrian Darts Open champion.
Littler, who started the week on a break in the United States, admitted he played his way into the tournament and was delighted to claim the title.
“I’ve just had a week off in Orlando and there was a bit of rust. But I think this weekend I’ve played well,” he said.
“Obviously Rob (Cross) has been at it all weekend up until now. I’ve had a week off and I thought I was in for a game but Rob didn’t turn up. I did punish him and got over the line.
“I love playing in big arenas in front of thousands. I’m just playing well. It’s another one to add to the list.”
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Remembering when Luke Littler won the Premier League in his debut campaign after defeating world No 1 Luke Humphries 11-7 in the final
Littler had earlier survived a tense semi-final with Smith, who led 4-1 and narrowly missed the bull going for a 124 finish and then two match darts at double eight in the deciding leg before Littler found double five to prevail 7-6.
It proved something of a battle throughout with Littler having earlier taken out treble 19, double top, double top for 137 to level at 5-5.
Now, after winning another title at such a tender age, Littler is eager to continue to add to his list of accolades.
“I want to win as much as I can,” he added. “This first half of the year has been really good with six titles and numerous nine-darters. I can’t wait for the second half of the season to kick in.
“I hope to win everything. But it might not happen. The Matchplay I’m looking forward to, the Grand Prix and Grand Slam.”
2024 Superbet Poland Darts Masters
Friday June 14
First Round
Rob Cross 6-1 Sebastian Bialecki
Boris Krcmar 6-4 Nathan Aspinall
Michael Smith 6-4 Radek Szaganski
Peter Wright 6-0 Jacek Krupka
Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Karel Sedlacek
Luke Littler 6-4 Adam Gawlas
Stephen Bunting 6-1 Krzysztof Ratajski
Luke Humphries 6-1 György Jehirszki
Saturday June 15
Quarter-Finals
Luke Littler 6-3 Peter Wright
Luke Humphries 5-6 Michael Smith
Rob Cross 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Michael van Gerwen 6-0 Boris Krcmar
Semi-Finals
Luke Littler 7-6 Michael Smith
Rob Cross 7-2 Michael van Gerwen
Final
Luke Littler 8-3 Rob Cross
What’s next on Sky Sports?
Image:
Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price are reigning World Cup of Darts champions
The World Cup of Darts will take place from 27 to 30 June 2024 at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt, Germany.
Wales’ Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton are the defending champions and they’ll be determined to fend off 39 other nations to retain their title.
Luke Humphries and Smith are in line to represent England but Littler will not feature because the two highest-ranked English players in the PDC Order of Merit are picked. ‘The Nuke’ is currently 25th in the Order of Merit.
Fans are also able to stream the entire action on NOW TV through their mobile device or tablet.
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World Cup of Darts: Fixtures
Thursday, June 27 (6pm BST)
Group Stage – Opening Matches
Friday, June 28
Afternoon Session (11am BST)
Group Stage – Second Matches
Evening Session (6pm BST)
Group Stage – Final Matches
Saturday, June 29
Afternoon Session (12pm BST)
Second Round x4
Evening Session (6pm BST)
Second Round x4
Sunday, June 30
Afternoon Session (12pm BST)
Quarter-Finals
Evening Session (6pm BST)
Semi-Finals
Final
What is the format?
Group Stage – Best of seven legsSecond Round – Best of 15 legsQuarter-Finals – Best of 15 legsSemi-Finals – Best of 15 legsFinal – Best of 19 legs
All matches will be played in a doubles format
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