Luke Littler has celebrated an incredible nine-dart finish as he became the youngest Premier League Darts champion in history.
The 17- year-old banked £275,000 (A$529,000) for winning the second biggest event in the sport following an 11-7 victory over World No. 1 Luke Humphries in the final.
The Sun reports a PDC UK record crowd of 14,000 at the O2 Arena in London were maniacally bouncing off their chairs in euphoria as Littler hit the perfect leg in leg 11.
It was the first time there had been one in a Prem final since Phil Taylor struck two nine-darters in the 2010 finale at Wembley.
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It means he has gained sweet revenge for losing to Humphries back on January 3 in the final of the World Darts Championship at Ally Pally.
He emulated the likes of Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson by succeeding on his debut appearance.
Luke The Nuke – the most famous darts player on the planet – received a juicy payday for his triumph at the climax of the eight-player invitational tournament.
And he will also get a A$76,000 bonus for the four nightly victories, which saw him top the table.
Watch Luke Littler’s nine darter in the video above.
Littler moved into the final with a thumping 10-5 victory over Michael Smith in a one-sided semi-final in which he took out a 144 checkout and was two darts away from a nine-darter.
In the other semi-final, Humphries also progressed 10-5 as he celebrated his seventh win in a row over Dutchman Van Gerwen.
Before the final, World No. 25 Littler had won six of the previous eight meetings with practice partner Humphries.
At times, frustrated Humphries waved his hand in such a way to suggest there was a breeze on stage and it was affecting his throw.
It was 5-5 at the first TV break but on the resumption, emotionless Littler achieved a moment of sporting perfection – even Humphries had to stop and applauded the brilliant act.
Even though the adrenaline was coursing through his veins, Littler composed himself and sealed the victory on double top.
Littler, who was sitting his GCSEs this time last year and is too young to vote in July’s General Election, has also become the youngest major winner on this side of the darts divide.
The kid will now head to Wembley to watch his beloved Manchester United take on rivals Manchester City in the FA Cup Final on Saturday afternoon.
And then it is a trip to New York to appear in the US Darts Masters where he has probably got a new audience of fans.
In August, Littler will travel to Australia to compete in the Australian Darts Masters in Wollongong.
Littler celebrated with his family and wiped away the tears before saying: “For all the doubters, hello! I have just picked up this, you don’t doubt me anymore!
“It’s so good to win in front of my girlfriend, manager and family. I don’t know what to do now!
“I came off for the break. I went to the toilet and came back on. I thought, right, we are on until the end. I needed the toilet after the two legs.
“All of us players love a break. We come back on and do what we have to do.
“I practised hard today. I was dead focused. I didn’t want to blink. I am a major winner now.”
Humphries said: “I tried to stick in there. There was a massive breeze all night to deal with. Credit to Luke, he handled it well.
“He played much better. He is a fantastic player. Me and Luke are the two greatest players in the world.
“I love playing him. We will have a lot of battles in the future. He deserved it throughout the season.”
This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission.
Source Agencies
