Darts triumph at 17: Littler wins Premier League
Luke Littler beats Luke Humphries. Photo
© Zac Goodwin/PA Wire/dpa
The celebrated winner on his debut: Luke Littler wins the title in the Premier League of Darts Professionals. In the final, the teenager achieves something special.
Darts teenager Luke Littler has continued his remarkable winning streak and won the biggest title of his career so far. The 17-year-old Englishman won the Premier League in London, leaving the entire world elite behind in his debut season. Littler won the final against English world champion Luke Humphries 11:7, achieving a rare nine-darter, where the 501 points are reset to zero with nine throws.
“The Nuke”, as Littler is known, will receive prize money of £275,000 (a good €320,000). Before his victory over Humphries, he had defeated former world champion Michael Smith (also from England) 10:5 in the semi-finals. World Cup finalist Littler was already the measure of all things in the preliminary round, which lasted a total of 16 weeks. The teenager is currently competing in his first full season on the PDC tour. Humphries clearly won the second semi-final 10:5 against record winner Michael van Gerwen (Netherlands).
Premier League attendance record
Even before the final evening, the World Darts Association had announced a record for the current Premier League season. Over 150,000 tickets were sold for the arenas on the British Isles, in Rotterdam and Berlin over the 17 evenings, the PDC announced on Thursday. On Thursday, over 14,000 fans attended in London, which is a record for darts events in Great Britain. The world record was set in 2018 in the Schalke football arena, when over 20,000 people came to the German Darts Masters.
“The sport is currently at the peak of a wave,” said CEO Matthew Porter. The Premier League even attracts more spectators than the World Cup, which traditionally takes place around New Year. This is because the weekly league format is played in larger venues than Alexandra Palace.
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