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More European Tour Glory For Littler

More European Tour Glory For Littler

Alex Moss |

A Week In Darts – April 29, 2024 – Luke Littler Claims Austrian Darts Open Title

It was another memorable week for Luke Littler as the teenager enjoyed more success in the Premier League and on the European Tour. Beau Greaves also created her own slice of history over in the MODUS Super Series. Here’s our round-up of all things darts over the last seven days…

LITTLER DOUBLES UP ON THE EURO TOUR

Luke Littler’s record-breaking first year on the ProTour continued as he won a second European Tour title with a victory in the Austrian Darts Open on Sunday night.

The 17-year-old clinched the Belgian Darts Open on his European Tour debut in March and doubled up his title tally on the continent with another triumph in Graz at the weekend.

After starting his campaign with a 6-2 win over home favourite Zoran Lerchbacher on Friday, the teen booked his spot in the final day of action in style, averaging 106 in a 6-2 win against Damon Heta in the second round.

On Sunday, Littler battled past Krzysztof Ratajski (6-3) and Danny Noppert (6-5) to reach the semi-finals, where he posted a 105 average in a 7-2 thrashing of Ross Smith.

The final looked to be going to the wire when Joe Cullen punished missed doubles from Littler to close to 5-4 behind and get the match back on throw.

But ‘The Nuke’ had other ideas as he broke again in the next leg with a 14 darter, before taking out 66 for a 7-4 lead and then finishing in style with a 12-dart leg to close out an 8-4 victory.

“I’m just happy to get over the line again,” said Littler, who was presented with the traditional green jacket alongside the winner’s trophy.

“It didn’t happen in Sindelfingen (after losing 6-5 to Luke Humphries in the previous European Tour event), but I’ve come here and I’ve put myself right and won another one.

“We started off really well, but I think I stuck at it and Joe started to fall off, and I got over the line.

“This weekend has been good, my darts have been good and these guys (the crowd) have helped me so much.”

For runner-up Cullen it was a welcome return to form with the former Masters champion enjoying a run to his first European Tour final in two years.

The 2022 Premier League finalist posted 100+ averages in wins against Darius Labanauskas, Dave Chisnall and Gian van Veen, before averaging 98 in a 7-5 success over Stephen Bunting in the semi-finals.

“I’m disappointed, but congratulations to Luke,” said Cullen, who saw his average drop to 85 in the final.

“I was not very good. I’m disappointed with the way I played in the final, but if you’d have offered me a final before the week started I’d have taken it.

“He played better than me and did what he had to do at the right times. He’s a fantastic talent, I think he’s a generational talent.”

THE NUKE GOES CLEAR AT THE PREMIER LEAGUE SUMMIT

Luke Littler has moved five points clear at the top of the Premier League table after securing his third nightly win of the season in Liverpool on Thursday.

‘The Nuke’ defeated Gerwyn Price, Nathan Aspinall and Rob Cross to scoop the £10,000 bonus at the M&S Bank Arena, along with another five-point haul which sees him open up some daylight on his closest rival Luke Humphries in the table.

The teen sensation saw off Price 6-3 in his opening game, before surviving five match darts and battling back from 5-2 down to beat Aspinall in a last-leg decider to progress to the final.

The reigning PDC world youth champion raced into a 5-0 lead in the final against Cross, who battled back by winning the next two legs, before Littler got over the line as a 6-2 winner.

“I’m just happy with the way I played,” Littler said. “I wanted to come here, pick up some points, and hopefully I’m in the play-offs now.

“I’m really happy to pull away from the chasing pack. There’s only three more league nights left now, so maybe I could top the table. That would be amazing.”

After 13 nights of action, debutant Littler leads the way on 31 points, with world champion Humphries on 26 points, and Aspinall (25 points) and Michael van Gerwen (24) completing the current top four.

Michael Smith (20) remains in contention for the play-offs in fifth spot, whilst Cross (14), Price (12) and Wright (4) occupy the bottom three places in the table.

The Premier League season continues in Aberdeen this Thursday, with Littler and Aspinall set to renew their rivalry in the quarter-finals.

INVINCIBLE GREAVES MAKES SUPER SERIES HISTORY

Beau Greaves wrote her name in the record books as the first player to win a week at the MODUS Super Series without losing a game.

The reigning two-time WDF women’s world champion made her long-awaited debut in the weekly competition in Portsmouth last week in Group B.

The 20-year-old won all eight of her matches to top the group and qualify for Saturday’s finals night, with the highlight a stunning 114 average in a 4-1 win over Kevin Painter.

Greaves continued her unbeaten run with victories against Sebastian Bialecki and Marvin van Velzen to advance to the knockout stage, where she saw off Adam Lipscombe and Bialecki again to win the title.

As well as making history as the first player to go unbeaten in a Super Series week, Greaves also becomes the first female player to win a week and joins Ciaran Teehan, Bradley Brooks, Jimmy van Schie, Andreas Harrysson, Neil Duff, Bradly Roes, Conor Heneghan and Reece Robinson in the line-up for Champions Week.

Pictures: PDC Europe

Alex Moss is a content creator for Darts Corner and the co-host of the Weekly Dartscast podcast. Alex co-founded the Weekly Dartscast in 2017 and has helped produce 350+ episodes of the podcast, with their list of previous guests on the show a who’s who in the world of darts.

Alex also writes content for the Darts Corner blog, including the weekly darts news round-ups and how-to guides.

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