Luke Littler extended his winning streak to 12 games after fending off a brilliant fightback from Stephen Bunting to win the Players Championship20 final at Wigan on Tuesday.
Littler recorded a dominant victory in the World Series of Darts final on Sunday, extending his incredible winning streak with a dramatic 8-7 victory over Bunting at Robin Park Tennis Centre.
The 17-year-old had little difficulty reaching Tuesday’s final, while Bunting put up impressive resistance, recovering from 1-5 down to score the winning goal in the final match.
But Littler kept his cool in a breathtaking final match and completed a 13-dart hold to claim his third Players Championship title of 2024 and his second PDC crown in the space of 48 hours.
“I thought I played really well today,” said Littler, who is fresh off winning his ninth PDC title of the season.
“I came here with a lot of confidence after winning in Amsterdam and I couldn’t believe how well I played there.”
“I had a lot of fun today. Probably the most fun I’ve had since winning my first Pro Tour. I can’t wait for tomorrow.”
Littler began his campaign with wins over Adam Gaullas, Jacques Labre and Andrew Gilding before dominating a match featuring 128 all-star players to claim North West glory.
He beat Kevin Dorts 6-2 in the round of 16 with an average score of 104 and then beat world number one Luke Humphries by the same score in the quarter-finals, both of which averaged 101 in high-quality matches.
Littler beat top seed Dave Chisnall 7-2 in the quarter-finals before beating another St Helens star, Bunting, in Wigan to win the title.
Bunting, who finished runner-up to Raymond van Barneveld in the Players Championship Five, beat Chris Dobey and Gerwyn Price in the closing stages on Tuesday but could only collect the £10,000 runner-up prize.
On Tuesday, Andrew Gilding and Vincent van der Voort recorded nine-dart finishes to become the latest stars to achieve a perfect 2024 PDC Pro Tour berth.
Van der Voort won his first-round match against Mensur Suljovic with a nine-point lead before Gilding produced a flawless leg against Wessel Nyman to win his second-round match 6-1 with an average of 114 points.
What’s next for Sky Sports?
Next up on the Sky Sports darts calendar is the Boyle Sports World Grand Prix in 2024.
The annual £600,000 prize pool tournament will take place at Leicester’s Mattioli Arena from 7-13 October, with 32 of the world’s best stars competing for the prestigious title, held by Luke Humphreys in 2023.
Humphries won his first TV ranking title with a win over Gerwyn Price at last year’s tournament, and the world number one will return to defend his title later this year.
Six-time winner Michael van Gerwen is also due to feature, while teenage superstar Luke Littler will make his Double debut for the East Midlands.
In a change from last year’s format, the semi-finals on Saturday, October 12th will be played as best of nine sets, with the final set being played as best of 11 sets on Sunday, October 13th.
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