Luke Littler surged to his fourth nightly win of the Premier League Darts season and second in a row, defeating Rob Cross in the Aberdeen final to wrap up his play-off spot.
Table-topping Littler, who leads Luke Humphries by eight points, guaranteed a top-four finish by thrashing Michael Smith 6-1 in the semi-finals. He averaged 110 with an 86% checkout success rate and hit three ton-plus finishes.
The 17-year-old then defeated Cross 6-4 in the Night 14 final, the same player he had knocked off to triumph in Liverpool a week earlier. This victory added to his back-to-back triumphs in Belfast and Manchester earlier in the competition.
Littler was fired up in Aberdeen, even shushing the crowd after he overcame Nathan Aspinall 6-5 in a nip-and-tuck quarter-final, in response to being whistled.
Humphries is also now assured of a spot in the play-offs at London’s O2 Arena on Thursday, May 23, despite his semi-final exit to Cross. Cross’s hopes of gatecrashing the top four were boosted as he closed to within seven points of fourth-placed Michael van Gerwen.
Humphries had received a bye into the semi-finals after his scheduled opponent, Gerwyn Price, withdrew due to a back injury, with Price no longer able to make the top four. The two points world No 1 Humphries accrued for that walkover took him to 28 for the campaign and left Van Gerwen, Smith, Cross and Aspinall battling for the last two play-off berths across the final two weeks of the regular season, in Leeds on Thursday, May 9, and Sheffield on Thursday, May 16.
Littler, who has now joined defending champion Van Gerwen on four nightly wins for the season, will face rock-bottom Peter Wright in the quarter-finals in Leeds. Van Gerwen is set to meet Price – fitness-permitting – Humphries will face Cross, and Smith will battle Aspinall.
Third-placed Aspinall (25 points) missed one match dart in his loss to Littler, while Van Gerwen (24 points) also fell in the first round as Cross fought back from 5-4 down to win 6-5 and pick up a third successive victory over the Dutchman.
Scottish star Wright was unable to pick up a win in front of his home fans as he was beaten 6-4 by Smith in the night’s opening fixture, although Wright did get the crowd dancing as he walked out to Proclaimers classic ‘I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)’.
Littler put in a dominant display as he thrashed Smith in the semi-finals, taking out finishes of 144, 124, 105 and 87. He was given a stiffer test by Cross in the final, but Littler broke Cross once more in a leg in which he threw seven perfect darts before his hopes of a nine-dart finish were scuppered by a wayward eighth. Cross then missed a dart at a double as he threatened to take out 126 and force a deciding leg, with Littler subsequently stepping up to pin double 10 and move onto 36 points for the season.
Premier League Darts continues on Thursday, May 9, in Leeds. Watch live on Sky Sports Action from 7 pm or stream with NOW. Stream Sky Sports live with no contract on a Month or Day membership on NOW. Instant access to live action from the Premier League, EFL, F1, England cricket, darts, tennis and so much more.
