Littler claims outstanding victory in Poland Darts Masters

Teen superstar Luke Littler claimed the title on his Poland Darts Masters debut with a stunning performance on Saturday night.

The 17-year-old sensation dispatched Peter Wright 6-3 and 2023 world champion Michael Smith 7-6 before beating Rob Cross comprehensively 8-3 in the final in front of a crowd of 9,000 at the PreZero Arena.

As he moved 4-1 up in the showpiece against Cross, Littler nailed a 164 monster checkout, proving he lives for the big occasion.

But it was not all easy for Littler, on Friday he survived a late scare to see off UK Open semi-finalist Adam Gawlas, who fought back from 5-1 down, taking three successive legs to threaten to send the ‘The Nuke’ packing.

Littler, though, took care of business 6-4 in the end and showed no such nerves on Saturday as he dispatched three of the world’s top 10 to claim victory – including a bang-in form Cross who was in the final of a World Series tournament for the third time this month.

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Cross beat Sebastian Bialecki 6-1, Stephen Bunting 6-4 and Michael van Gerwen 7-2 en route to the final, but he found Littler in irrepressible form.

A tight fourth leg proved to be the turning point as Littler broke his throw with 16-darter before compounding the misery for Cross with a 164 finish to move 4-1 ahead. Although Cross punched back, Littler again managed a 121 finish in the seventh leg and claimed a romping victory to add to a growing list of honours.

Currently, Littler is the Premier League Darts champion, as well as Junior and World Youth champion. He adds the Poland Darts Masters to the Bahrain title he won in January as well as being the current Belgian and Austrian Darts Open champion.

Littler, who started the week on a break in the United States, admitted he played his way into the tournament and was delighted to claim the title.

“I’ve just had a week off in Orlando and there was a bit of rust. But I think this weekend I’ve played well,” he said.

“Obviously Rob (Cross) has been at it all weekend up until now. I’ve had a week off and I thought I was in for a game but Rob didn’t turn up. I did punish him and got over the line.

“I love playing in big arenas in front of thousands. I’m just playing well. It’s another one to add to the list.”

Littler had earlier survived a tense semi-final with Smith, who led 4-1 and narrowly missed the bull going for a 124 finish and then two match darts at double eight in the deciding leg before Littler found double five to prevail 7-6.

It proved something of a battle throughout with Littler having earlier taken out treble 19, double top, double top for 137 to level at 5-5.

Now, after winning another title at such a tender age, Littler is eager to continue to add to his list of accolades.

“I want to win as much as I can,” he added. “This first half of the year has been really good with six titles and numerous nine-darters. I can’t wait for the second half of the season to kick in.

“I hope to win everything. But it might not happen. The Matchplay I’m looking forward to, the Grand Prix and Grand Slam.”

2024 Superbet Poland Darts Masters

Friday June 14First Round

Rob Cross 6-1 Sebastian Bialecki

Boris Krcmar 6-4 Nathan Aspinall

Michael Smith 6-4 Radek Szaganski

Peter Wright 6-0 Jacek Krupka

Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Karel Sedlacek

Luke Littler 6-4 Adam Gawlas

Stephen Bunting 6-1 Krzysztof Ratajski

Luke Humphries 6-1 György Jehirszki

Saturday June 15Quarter-Finals

Luke Littler 6-3 Peter Wright

Luke Humphries 5-6 Michael Smith

Rob Cross 6-4 Stephen Bunting

Michael van Gerwen 6-0 Boris Krcmar

Semi-Finals

Luke Littler 7-6 Michael Smith

Rob Cross 7-2 Michael van Gerwen

Final

Luke Littler 8-3 Rob Cross

What’s next on Sky Sports?

Image:
Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price are reigning World Cup of Darts champions

The World Cup of Darts will take place from 27 to 30 June 2024 at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt, Germany.

Wales’ Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton are the defending champions and they’ll be determined to fend off 39 other nations to retain their title.

Luke Humphries and Smith are in line to represent England but Littler will not feature because the two highest-ranked English players in the PDC Order of Merit are picked. ‘The Nuke’ is currently 25th in the Order of Merit.

Fans are also able to stream the entire action on NOW TV through their mobile device or tablet.

World Cup of Darts: Fixtures

Thursday, June 27 (6pm BST)

Group Stage – Opening Matches

Friday, June 28Afternoon Session (11am BST)

Group Stage – Second Matches

Evening Session (6pm BST)

Group Stage – Final Matches

Saturday, June 29Afternoon Session (12pm BST)

Second Round x4

Evening Session (6pm BST)

Second Round x4

Sunday, June 30Afternoon Session (12pm BST)

Quarter-Finals

Evening Session (6pm BST)

Semi-Finals

Final

What is the format?

Group Stage – Best of seven legsSecond Round – Best of 15 legsQuarter-Finals – Best of 15 legsSemi-Finals – Best of 15 legsFinal – Best of 19 legs

All matches will be played in a doubles format

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