Darts: “I can hardly wait for the next tournament” – Luke Littler’s hunger for victory is far from satisfied

After already being the best at the World Series of Darts Finals last Sunday, he won another title just two days later. In the final of the Players Championship 20, he beat Stephen Bunting 8-7. For Littler, this is already his ninth tournament victory this year. With the exception of August, he has won at least one tournament every month.

Littler raced through the field and didn’t really struggle in any of the matches until the final. “In the round of 32, Andrew Gilding threw a 9-darter, I thought he would get through after that, but in the end I was able to win the match quite clearly. The following games also went smoothly, and I even beat Luke Humphries 6-2 in the quarter-finals,” said Littler.

“In the final, Stephen made it particularly difficult for me. I knew that I had to give everything I had to win the match, even though I was pretty tired. So I’m very happy that I was able to win another tournament.”

The Nuke also had to return to action less than 48 hours after his triumph in Amsterdam. “I obviously came here with a lot of confidence after my victory at the World Series Finals. But even after two titles in a row I’m certainly not satisfied, I’m already looking forward to the next tournament (today, editor’s note), which I want to win again.

Remarkably, Littler still had time to change arrows and even adjust his throw slightly during his competitions. “That’s what I’m capable of,” he laughs. “It just happened, I didn’t think much about it otherwise.”

9 titles

The 17-year-old Englishman has already made nine title mistakes in his first year on the Pro Tour. “Of course, I would never have thought that was possible at the start of the year,” he says. “But I’ll just take it from tournament to tournament and see what happens this year.”

Littler still has a busy autumn ahead of him with numerous majors, European tours and Players Championships. “I will listen carefully to my manager and decide in consultation with him which tournaments I will still take part in. After all, I can’t play all of them, that would be too much.”

Results Players Championship 20

final

Luke Littler (99.28) 8| 7 (99.03) Stephen Bunting

Semi-final

Luke Littler (99.53) 7| 2 (92.72) Dave Chisnall

Stephen Bunting (99.57) 7| 5 (92.25) Gerwyn Price

Quarterfinals

Dave Chisnall (101.31) 6 |

Luke Littler (101.10) 6| 2 (101.05) Luke Humphries

Stephen Bunting (101.84) 6| 2 (92.63) Jermaine Wattimena

Gerwyn Price (94.42) 6 | 4 (93.13) Cameron Menzies

Last 16

Dave Chisnall (96.61) 6| 2 (92.78) Richard Veenstra

Ryan Searle (98.33) 6| 2 (84.50) Jamie Hughes

Luke Humphries (103.20) 6| 2 (88.79) Gian van Veen

Luke Littler (104.42) 6 | 2 (84.13) Kevin Doets

Jermaine Wattimena (100.07) 6 | 5 (97.33) Rob Cross

Stephen Bunting (97.93) 6 | 3 (96.22) Chris Dobey

Gerwyn Price (94.95) 6 | 3 (98.95) Damon Heta

Cameron Menzies (103.04) 6| 4 (85.51) William Borland