Luke Littler made history in the Premier League tonight, as he became the first man ever to win a fifth night in the same year by taking the crown in night thirteen in Birmingham.
The world champion defeated Stephen Bunting and Nathan Aspinall before defeating Michael van Gerwen 6-4 in the final.
Littler spoke to the media after the action, and offered his feelings on yet another Premier League triumph.
Littler’s run to glory began with a quarter-final clash against fellow Englishman Stephen Bunting. It was The Bullet who started the brightest, as he immediately broke Littler’s throw, and ended up winning three of the first four legs, which included a 110 out in leg four to give him a solid lead.
Littler won the next leg with a 100 out, which began a run of three straight holds of throw. When it was over, Bunting held a slender 4-3 lead. The Nuke ended that streak with a break in leg eight to draw level, before holding in the next leg to put him 5-4 up, and within a leg of the match. Bunting was able to hold his throw to force the game to a last-leg decider, but it was Littler who held his nerve to secure a 6-5 victory, which granted him passage to the semi-final.
In the other quarter-finals, Nathan Aspinall beat Chris Dobey 6-3, Gerwyn Price edged out Luke Humphries 6-5, and Michael van Gerwen defeated Rob Cross 6-4.
Littler was to face another English opponent in the semi-final, in the form of Nathan Aspinall. The Nuke started well, breaking immediately before consolidating to race into a 2-0 lead. The Asp roared back however, and picked up three legs on the spin to give him the advantage.
Aspinall’s third leg began a run of six legs in a row which were holds of throw. When this run was over, it left the score locked at 5-5, and meant Littler would be forced into another last-leg decider. He was to come out on the right end of it again, breaking The Asp’s throw to record another 6-5 victory, and put him within one game of making Premier League history.
In the other semi-final, Michael van Gerwen defeated Gerwyn Price 6-3 to book his place in his second nightly final of the year.
The Dutchman started the final well, winning three of the first four legs to leave the world champion playing catch up. Littler started a run of three straight legs with a 120 out, which when over had turned the match around, and had The Nuke leading 4-3.
MVG broke that spell in the eight leg to level the match, but it was the last leg that he would win. Littler held before breaking to seal a 6-4 win, which allowed him to complete an achievement never seen before in a Premier League campaign, a fifth nightly win in the same campaign.
Littler’s win tonight moves him onto 35 points, which not only moves him 11 points clear at the top, but means The Nuke is mathematically confirmed to have made the play-offs later this month. Humphries is still second but another quarter-final exit means he remains on 26 points.
Price remains third and moves onto 22 points with a semi-final exit, meanwhile reaching the final was enough to propel Michael van Gerwen back into the top four, on 20 points. Next week sees the turn of Leeds to play host to the action.