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 on Thursday evening, leaving the entire world elite behind in his debut season. Littler won the final against English world champion Luke Humphries 11-7 and managed a rare nine-darter, in which the 501 points are reset to zero with nine throws.
“The Nuke”, as Littler is known, will receive prize money of £275,000 (around €320,000). Before his victory over Humphries, he had defeated former world champion Michael Smith (also from England) 10-5 in the semi-finals.
Even in the preliminary round, which lasted a total of 16 weeks, World Championship finalist Littler was the measure of all things. The teenager is currently competing in his first full season on the PDC tour. Humphries won the second semi-final clearly with 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 the event in London, a record for darts events in the UK. The world record was set in 2018 at the Schalke football arena, when over 20,000 people attended 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.
