Luke Littler admitted that boos from the crowd almost made him walk away from darts, before he beat Luke Humphries in a dramatic Premier League final at the O2 Arena in London. The 19-year-old world number one won a last-leg decider 11-10 to reclaim the title and pocket £350,000.
Littler, who had earlier squandered six match darts in a bad-tempered semi-final against Gerwyn Price, came from 6-3 down to edge the final. The victory was his third consecutive meeting with Humphries in the final, and he equalled the record for nightly wins with six over the 17-week season, earning a total of £410,000.
However, the teenager revealed that the pantomime booing and whistling from the 16,000 crowd had taken a toll. After a controversial on-stage argument with Gian van Veen in Manchester, Littler confided in his girlfriend Faith that he was struggling. 'After Brighton, I was sat at home saying to Faith: I don't want to do it any more. Just the crowd every week. I said to her: I'm down bad,' he said, before becoming emotional.
Humphries, who beat Jonny Clayton 10-9 in the other semi-final, praised Littler's resilience. 'It shows what it means to us as players, on the road for 16, 17 weeks, it's hard work,' he said. The final was a nail-biting affair, with Littler holding his nerve to win the deciding leg after Humphries missed a match dart at bull.
