Teen darts sensation Luke Littler sealed his place in the PDC Premier League play-offs with two weeks to spare as the world’s best players returned to P&J Live in Aberdeen.
The 17-year-old – the World Championship runner-up in January – was on imperious form in the Granite City, beating Rob Cross 6-4 in the final to win for the fourth night out of the last six.
Littler and Cross traded breaks of throw in the opening two legs.
The former then found himself 2-1 down, but produced a 107 finish to make it 2-2, before going 3-2 up.
Cross hit a tricky double-14 to bounce back and make it 3-3, before holding his throw by finding the same double to pull ahead once more.
Teenager Littler was not to be denied, though, with an 80 finish to level the match at 4-4, then threatening a nine-darter before eventually finding double-10 to go 5-4 ahead and put himself on the cusp of victory, which he secured in the next leg.
With only stops in Leeds and Sheffield left before the play-offs in London, Littler – also making his Premier League debut this season – told Sky Sports: “I can just play with a free throw now I’m through, but I’ll aim to win the other two nights coming up – if it’s not to be then it’s all focus on London.
“I think I’ve definitely settled myself into it. The first few weeks was ok, but I’ve settled in, I know the routine and I’ve won four nights now.”
Victory in Aberdeen means Littler holds an eight-point lead over world champion Luke Humphries at the top of the Premier League table, but when asked who was the current best player in the world, he replied: “Not me.”
Littler’s confirmation in one of the four play-off spots was already secured as a result of him reaching the final at P&J Live.
He had thumped 2023 world champion Michael Smith 6-1 in their semi-final, with check-outs of 144, 124 and 105, as he went six out of seven on doubles in the match.
In the other semi, Humphries, who received a bye into the last-four when Gerwyn Price pulled out with a back injury, looked out of sorts in defeat to Cross, going down 6-5 – though Humphries’ efforts on the night also confirmed his play-offs qualification.
In the three quarter-finals which kicked off the evening, Smith had claimed a 6-4 victory against home hope Peter Wright, Littler beat Nathan Aspinall 6-5 and Cross defeated Michael van Gerwen by the same scoreline.
Despite their early exits in Aberdeen, Aspinall and Van Gerwen currently occupy the remaining two play-offs slots.
Below are some of the highlights captured by our photographer Kenny Elrick at the Premier League Darts in Aberdeen
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