Luke Littler landed an historic nine-darter on his way to claiming the 2024 Bahrain Darts Masters title on Friday.
Just two days short of his 17th birthday, Littler became the youngest player ever to achieve a televised nine-dart finish and the youngest winner of a senior PDC title.
Following Thursday’s First Round win over Man Lok Leung, Littler made an incredible start to the Quarter-Finals with a nine-darter in the opening leg against Nathan Aspinall.
Only Phil Taylor had previously achieved a perfect leg in the World Series – with that coming at the 2015 Sydney Masters.
The 16-year-old went on to win that game 6-3 with an average of 104.5, before landing a majestic 170 checkout during a clinical 7-3 defeat of Gerwyn Price in the Semi-Finals.
He then overcame world number two Michael van Gerwen 8-5 in the final with another sensational performance to claim debut glory at the Bahrain International Circuit.
After the opening six legs went with throw, Littler followed an 11-darter with a break of throw to move 5-3 up in the final, only for Van Gerwen to fire back with a 12-darter as he levelled.
Littler, though, pinned double ten in the next two legs as another break of throw moved him to the brink of a win which he sealed on double top.
“I’m just very happy to win,” said Littler. “I played well last night and I’ve played well again tonight – I’ve proven that I’ve got the ability to win.
“I’ve not picked a dart up since the World Championship final so I wasn’t expecting anything, but I’ve won all my games, hit the nine-darter against Nathan and got over the line against a very good Michael van Gerwen.
“He is still one of the best if not the best, but I am just so happy to win on my debut.
“It has been unbelievable this week, the Asian qualifiers were great too but I am just happy to be the winner.”
Van Gerwen had produced some terrific darts himself during his run to the final, before eventually being denied a 21st World Series title.
The Dutchman had been the stand-out performer on Day One as he whitewashed Bahrain’s Hasan Haji, and continued his strong return to action on Friday.
He finished six doubles from seven attempts and averaged 106 in a 6-4 Quarter-Final win over Rob Cross, and then ended Michael Smith’s reign as champion in a thrilling Semi-Final.
The pair could barely be separated as the tie went to a deciding leg, which Van Gerwen took with a 110 checkout, only to see Littler deny him the title.
“It has been a fantastic tournament – of course I am disappointed but that is how sports work; you win some, you lose some,” said Van Gerwen.
“It is never going to be a good week when Michael is not winning, simple as that. He has had a fantastic tournament as well – everyone says he is a new kid, but everyone knows what he is capable of.
“I couldn’t produce what I was doing in the early games [in the final]. You can only punish yourself for that. You have to make sure you get better for the next one.”
Newly-crowned World Champion Luke Humphries saw his 20-game winning streak ended with a Quarter-Final exit at the hands of Price.
Humphries had lifted the Grand Slam, Players Championship Finals and World Championship titles during his blistering unbeaten run, but was left to rue costly missed doubles as Price prevailed 6-4.
“You’re never going to be happy about losing but that was going to come and you can’t be perfect all the time,” admitted Humphries.
“I’m really disappointed because the way I played there wasn’t my best and I had so many opportunities to win the game.
“Gezzy took advantage of my misses and fair play to him – my scoring wasn’t at my best but this game is about millimetres and if you don’t take those chances, you won’t win.
“I’ve got a lot to look forward to this year so it won’t drag me down too much. I think the last time I lost was October 29th so it’s been an amazing run for me and it had to come to an end one day.”
Bahrain Darts Masters 2024 Day Two Results
Friday January 19
Quarter-Finals
Luke Humphries 4-6 Gerwyn Price
Michael Smith 6-1 Peter Wright
Nathan Aspinall 3-6 Luke Littler – *Littler hits a nine-darter*
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Rob Cross
Semi-Finals
Luke Littler 7-3 Gerwyn Price
Michael van Gerwen 7-6 Michael Smith
Final
Luke Littler 8-5 Michael van Gerwen
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