- Luke Littler was seen furious after a mistake saw him lose to Gerwyn Price.
- The 17-year-old hit his knee in anger after taking the match to the final.
- It was an exciting match, with Price booking his place in the semi-finals.
Luke Littler was seen furious after a costly mistake saw him suffer defeat to Gerwyn Price in a thrilling Premier League Darts quarter-final clash on Thursday night.
It seemed like the pressure took its toll on both players towards the end of the match, and both made mistakes when necessary.
At 5-4 up, Price left a dart on the board, giving teenage star Littler a lifeline to send the game into a deciding stage. But Price’s experience showed, and the Welshman recovered to capitalize on a mistake by his opponent and win 6-5.
Frustrated by his mistake, Littler was seen slapping his hands on his knees in distress as he walked towards the oche to pick up his darts, realizing that Price had another chance to win the match.
This time, Price made no mistake. He closed out the game with a 13-dart grab and let out a huge roar of euphoria.
Luke Littler was seen furious after a costly mistake saw him suffer a defeat against Gerwyn Price.
It was an exciting match, in which the Welshman made several mistakes before achieving a 6-5 victory.
‘The Nuke’ had forced the match into a decisive stretch but succumbed to his opponent. He was seen leaving the stage shaking his head in frustration.
Price advanced to face Humphries in the semi-final, but was ultimately beaten 6-3 by the world number one, which set up a clash against Michael van Gerwen in the final.
It was the Dutchman who would reign victorious on the third night of the circuit, pulling off a sensational comeback to defeat the world champion after losing 4-2 in the match.
The three-time world champion proclaimed himself “the man with the trophy” after the match, but admitted he was not at his best.
“I won tonight and I didn’t even play well, that’s a good thing. You could see I had a lot of problems. To finish with a double today was good,” he told Sky Sports after the trophy presentation.
‘Last year I told myself: I want to win so many weeks, I want a certain amount of points. This year I do it differently. I play week after week. There are no objectives now. There has been a lot of pressure on my shoulders.
‘It’s important, you can see it by my reaction. You are playing against the best players in the world.
Van Gerwen was certainly right, the quality of darts on display in Glasgow was excellent and perhaps Littler’s clash with Price was the best moment of the matches.
While it was a frustrating night for Luke ‘The Nuke’, he has enjoyed a great week. booking his place in his first European Tour event at next month’s Belgian Darts Open.
Michael van Gerwen reigned victorious on night three after beating Luke Humphries in the final.
The victory puts the Dutchman at the top of the Premier League Darts standings with 10 points.
He also pocketed £15,000 on Monday night after beating Ryan Searle to win the Players Championship.
Littler had already exacted revenge on PDC World Championship winner Luke Humphries on the opening night of the Premier League darts circuit, before beating Michael Smith 6-5 in another close encounter.
He continued to rack up points on the second night, defeating Rob Cross and Humphries again, before being defeated by three-time world champion Van Gerwen.
Earlier in the night, Humphries staged an excellent comeback to defeat Nathan Aspinall, winning five matches after his opponent had missed a nine-darter opportunity.
‘Cool Hand Luke’ would later claim victory in his semi-final against Price and earn a place in his first weekly Premier League darts final against Van Gerwen, but was unable to reverse the world champion’s comeback, despite average 101.37.
Despite that, it has been a busy week for the 2024 World Championship finalist, who booked his place in his first European Tour event this week.
Littler and Price are now level on points in the Premier League Darts standings
The world number one now occupies fourth place in the standings, tied on five points with Littler and Price, with Michael Smith in second place on seven points.
After his victory, Van Gerwen has moved away from the peloton and is three points ahead at the top of the table with 10 points.