Littler won his first major PDC ranking tournament, clinched a £150,000 prize and shot up to fifth in the world rankings with a stunning 16-3 victory over Lukeman, who was outmuscled by the 17-year-old throughout their clash in Wolverhampton.
Earlier in the day, Littler had been pushed all the way by Gary Anderson in the semi-finals. After coming through a last-leg decider against ‘The Flying Scotsman’, 2007-born Littler averaged more than 107 to beat Lukeman.
“He is just different gravy,” Lukeman said of his opponent on Sky Sports. “I was hoping Luke was going out in the semis. He’s brilliant, isn’t he? He’s done great for the PDC, the sport, the fans, sponsorship. The best thing was putting him in the Premier League this year – best thing they could have done. I wish him the best and his family.”
Lukeman then took his chance to poke fun at Littler, who is known to indulge in online gaming sessions and rely on his natural talent, rather than hour upon hour of gruelling practice, to get him through matches.
“Carry on playing FIFA, boy!” he said. “I’m telling you, it’ll catch up with you!”
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“He’s just different gravy” ????????????
Martin Lukeman humble as ever in defeat ?????? pic.twitter.com/AUBJrUJqqa
Littler was the standout player at the Grand Slam of Darts, where a succession of opponents suffered at the hands of his relentless scoring and accurate double-hitting. He also showed tremendous character by coming from behind against Mike De Decker in the last 16 and Anderson in the semis – winning one-leg shootouts on both occasions.
“I’m just so glad to win it,” said Littler, who admitted he plans to ‘play some Xbox’ to celebrate his latest victory. “I’ve been playing well all week. It’s been a long week but it’s paid off. I’ve always got to have my scoring power with me no matter who I play. I can’t afford to drop off any legs. I had a slow start [against Lukeman] but I kicked on from there.”
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“Number five in 10 months… there is still another two more ranking tournaments to go, so hopefully I can go a bit higher than five. Hopefully it goes well at the Players’ Championship [Finals next weekend] and then it’s all eyes on the big one.”
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