Luke Littler boosted his hopes of a record-breaking seventh nightly win in the Premier League with a scrappy 6-5 victory against Josh Rock in his opening match at Sheffield’s Utilita Arena.
The teenage back-to-back world champion saw his 10-match winning run halted by arch-rival Luke Humphries in last week’s semi-finals in Birmingham. Despite looking out of sorts, Littler made a winning start on Night 16, the last round before next week’s Finals Night at the O2 in London.
Littler, who had won the previous three events in Liverpool, Aberdeen and Leeds, averaged below 90 against Rock before an 11-dart finish levelled the match at 4-4. Northern Irishman Rock, 25, then needed 13 attempts at double to send it to a decider at 5-5, but Littler took the final leg to scrape through to a semi-final against Humphries or Michael van Gerwen.
Jonny Clayton, already assured of his place on Finals Night and a second-placed finish in the table, lost 6-3 to Stephen Bunting in the quarter-finals. Bunting will face Gerwyn Price in the last four after the Ice Man produced a 112 checkout to seal a 6-2 win over 2026 World Championship runner-up Gian van Veen.
Defending champion Humphries qualified for Finals Night with his victory on Night 15 last week, beating Price in the final for his first nightly win of the season. With Humphries clinching the final top-four place at the O2 next Thursday alongside league winner Littler, Clayton and Price, there was little on the line on Night 16 in Sheffield.
