Luke Littler secured his first win of the season with a 6-4 victory over home favorite Johnny Clayton in an exciting fifth night final in Cardiff.
The two-year world champions entered the week in seventh place out of eight teams after a slow start to the season, but had to bounce back from an early struggle against Josh Lock to win 6-4 and avoid another early exit.
Littler impressed in a frenetic final match against Creighton after defeating Gerwyn Price in the semi-finals with a finish of over three tons and a 6-3 victory with the ‘Big Fish’ 170 checkout.
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Luke Littler misses double 15 and narrowly misses the nine-dart leg in his win over Johnny Clayton
The 19-year-old averaged 106.5 points in a contest with 11 high-scoring shots, and Littler hit his second big fish of the night, coming within an agonizing nine-darter of a coveted victory.
Littler became the fifth side to win every night in the first five weeks of the Premier League season, moving him into third place in the standings with nine points. Creighton, who saw off Jan van Veen and Luke Humphries en route to the final, extended its lead with a runner-up spot.
How Littler denied Creighton a home win in Cardiff
Creighton had already defeated two of the world’s top three players to reach the final at Utilita Arena, recovering from Littler’s opening with a 13-dart break and taking advantage of the world’s No. 1 player’s dart errors to equal double 10.
Ferret hit an 86 finish on the bullseye, but Littler responded with his second 170 checkout of the night, and the two continued to exchange slow holds in a high-scoring final.
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Luke Littler hits big fish against both Johnny Clayton and Gerwyn Price on Premier League night five in Cardiff
Littler lost the seventh leg, his second “perfect leg” of the season after hitting the rocks in Belfast last week, despite hitting eight perfect darts and missing a double 15, as Creighton held his throw for 11 darts.
The teenager bounced back level at the top and let out a roar in the ninth leg, picking up an errant treble into a break throw with an 80 checkout and bouncing back to take the title of the night with the next held throw.
“The table looks good,” Littler told Sky Sports. “I wasn’t feeling great in seventh place, but it was obvious. I think I had to focus on myself tonight. I did really well tonight and I’m proud of myself.”
“I said in my pregame interview that I felt good all week, but I just couldn’t show it. I played well in practice, too. I’m really happy that I worked on it tonight and was able to put it to work for me.”
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Luke Littler returns to winning ways in the Premier League and vows to win back-to-back British Open titles for the first time in 10 years
Van Gerwen and Humphries out of play-off spots
Littler was edged by Lock, who averaged 103.72 points in their quarter-final encounter, but the Northern Irishman’s wayward finishing helped last year’s runners-up to a 6-4 victory.
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Highlights of Luke Littler vs Josh Locke quarter-final on Premier League night 5 in Cardiff
Van Gerwen lost 6-1 to Humphries, dropping him out of the top four. Humphries struggled in the outside ring in a 6-4 loss to Creighton in the semifinals, finishing in sixth place.
Against Creighton, who have won all five of their quarterfinal matches this season, Van Veen’s early exit left them five points off the top spot, and the Dutchman fell to fourth place, tied with Price and Littler on nine points.
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Luke Littler checks out 121 against Gerwyn Price on Premier League night five
Lock has lost all five matches so far in his rookie season and remains at the bottom of the table with zero points, while last week’s winner Stephen Bunting fell to seventh after losing to Price in the final leg decider.
Sky Sports Darts’ Wayne Mardle said: “Every time Josh Lock gets something right, something can also go wrong.” “Tonight was the first time he’s scored like that. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to combine finishing and scoring. He will. It’s just a matter of how long it takes.”
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Wayne Mardle says Luke Littler showed great temperament at Cardiff but Luke Humphries was not rewarded for throwing great darts
What’s happening on the 6th night?
Lock will have another chance to pick up his first win of the season when he faces Bunting in the opening round of next week’s match at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena.
Creighton will play Van Gerwen, Humphries will take on Van Veen and Littler will face Price in a repeat of the Cardiff semi-final.
Who will win this year’s Premier League Darts? Watch Night 6 live on Sky Sports Action and Sky Sports+ from 7pm on Thursday 12th March. Stream darts and other top sports now.
