A tearful Luke Littler admitted his Premier League struggles and the boos from the crowd had made him consider walking away before he beat his great rival Luke Humphries in an epic final at the O2 Arena in London. Littler won a nail-biting last-leg decider to regain his crown and pocket a £350,000 jackpot.
The world No 1 was subjected to more pantomime booing and whistling from the 16,000 crowd. But the 19-year-old shrugged off the jeers that have followed him around recently to reclaim the title he lost to Humphries in last year’s final.
It was the third straight meeting between darts’ top pair in the final, and it was Warrington’s Littler who came from 6-3 down to edge a thriller 11-10. Add in his record-equalling six nightly wins over the 17-week marathon and Littler has raked in £410,000.
But some controversial incidents, not least an on-stage argument with the Dutchman Gian van Veen in Manchester, left him confiding in his girlfriend, Faith, that the crowd’s reaction was getting him down. “It’s been a rollercoaster,” he said on stage. “The first four weeks I was at the bottom, on the fifth night I won my first night. I had to pick myself up. I think I went to Brighton and had a 79 average.
“After Brighton, I think I came off stage and then in Manchester, I was sat at home saying to Faith: ‘I don’t want to do it any more. Just the crowd every week.’ I said to her: ‘I’m down bad.’”
The youngster then had to stop speaking as he welled up with emotion, and Humphries explained: “It shows what it means to us as players, on the road for 16, 17 weeks, it’s hard work.”
Littler had earlier squandered six match darts as he let a 9-4 lead slip in a bad-tempered semi-final against Gerwyn Price. There was a flashpoint midway through the 15th leg when Price, not on a finish, scored 170 and gave the crowd the reeling in the “big fish” gesture with Littler already throwing.
The referee Huw Ware gave Price a ticking-off at the end of the leg before the fired-up Welshman apologised to Littler. However, the 41-year-old repeated the gesture at his very next visit after hitting 180, although this time he was well out of his opponent’s eyeline.
Price carried on reeling in Littler, but the teenager held his nerve to take the deciding leg for a 10-9 victory, his ninth consecutive win against the former rugby player. Humphries, 31, had seen off the 2021 winner, Jonny Clayton, 10-9 in a seesaw second semi-final.
Humphries led 6-2 only for Clayton to find the form which earned him four nightly wins and roar 9-7 ahead. Humphries levelled the match at 9-9 with a 121 check-out and then missed a match dart at bull.
But as Clayton threw for double 16 to win, he appeared to be put off by a whistle from the crowd, allowing Humphries to step up and finish the job. The Welsh No 1 was clearly annoyed as he gestured towards the crowd before walking offstage.