Luke Littler beats Michael van Gerwen 8-5 in the Bahrain Masters final, clinching his first PDC World Series win with an incredible nine-darter in the evening
Luke Littler stunned Michael van Gerwen to victory at the Bahrain Masters but insists he has “not thrown a dart” since losing in the World Championship final three weeks ago.
Darts sensation Littler, 16, continued his meteoric rise with an 8-5 victory over Van Gerwen in Friday’s PDC World Series final, adding to his thrilling rise at Ally Pally. Littler continued his remarkable journey to the finals in that competition, taking his chances in Bahrain by ousting Man Lok Leung, Nathan Aspinall and Gerwyn Price, earning a resounding victory over three-time world champion Van Gerwen. I got it.
But ‘The Nuke’ admitted he had done little to prepare for the tournament in the Middle East after losing to current world number one Luke Humphries earlier this month. “I’m glad we won. We played well yesterday and we played well tonight,” Littler said. “No one will believe me, but I haven’t thrown a dart since the world finals.
“Michael is one of the best players and I’m happy he won on his debut. This week has been unbelievable so I’m happy to get the win.”
Littler got off to a great start to the night and set the tone for what was to come with a stunning nine-darter in the opening leg against Aspinall. After a 6-3 win in the quarter-finals, Littler defeated Price 7-3 to set up a final showdown with Van Gerwen.
The match against the Dutchman was a cat-and-mouse game from the start, with Littler dominating each leg and leading 4-3 at the mini-interval. The teenager used his momentum to take a two-legged advantage, but Van Gerwen fought back to level the score at 5-5.
Littler, who had already missed many big chances in this match, missed his next chance to take the lead, but Van Gerwen ran backwards and recovered, making the tie 6-5 in Littler’s favor. The next leg was similar, but this time Van Gerwen failed to check out the double five and Littler, who had just missed three darts on the double top, took a second chance and narrowly finished. approached.
Comfortable and confident, Littler cruised to victory without any further drama, confidently hitting a double-20 in the first inning to secure his first PDC World Series title.
Van Gerwen accepted the loss graciously, saying: “It’s never a good week when you don’t win, but Luke put in a great performance. We all know what he’s capable of. I want you to do something.” .
“What you haven’t shown in previous matches is punished. That’s how sports work. Of course I’m disappointed, but sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. I’ll get him, don’t worry!”