- Luke Littler won his first Premier League night in Belfast on Thursday
- But it wasn’t all smooth sailing as he mistakenly missed a double-header opportunity in the final.
- Littler saw the funny side and mocked himself after his wayward dart
<!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
Luke Littler hilariously trolled himself during his Premier League final against Nathan Aspinall in Week Nine in Belfast on Thursday night.
After beating Luke Humphries and Michael van Gerwen to reach his second final of the campaign, Littler won the first leg against Aspinall before his opponent hit back to level things at 1-1.
In the third match, Littler needed to score 131 with Aspinall sitting on 16, and he made a good start by hitting triple 17 to need 80 with his last two darts.
The 17-year-old decided that trying to hit the double 20 twice was the way to go and aimed for the top, but his first dart flew well over the target and was closer to missing the board than landing on the double segment.
There was a stunned murmur from the crowd, but Littler took it all in stride as he proceeded to put his hand to his forehead and pretended to look into the distance for his wayward dart.
Luke Littler threw a dart at the double tops that nearly missed the board and proceeded to mock himself by pretending to look through the crowd for his wayward dart.
It was a rare mistake from Littler as he won his first Premier League night in Belfast.
Littler beat his good friend Nathan Aspinall (right) in the final and is now second in the standings.
His reaction to his mistake sparked laughter among Belfast fans and the Sky Sports commentary team, with Rod Studd announcing “there it blows” while joking that the wind had deflected Littler’s effort.
Aspinall returned to the oche to complete his payment and took a 3-1 lead.
But Littler had the bite between his teeth, despite his moment of fun, and came back strong to close out a 6-4 victory.
His win secured him five points on the night and moved him up to second place in the Premier League table behind world champion Luke Humphries.
He is on course to reach the end-of-season play-offs and later revealed that altering his delivery helped him reach the top in Northern Ireland.
“As people will have seen, I changed my throw to give myself a bit of extra time and then throw the next two (darts),” he told Sky Sports.
“I’ve practiced more and it’s paid off.”
The Premier League moves to Manchester next week, a little closer to home for the Warrington-born teenager.
Littler later explained that he had slowed down his pitch and that the change had paid off.
Littler hopes to return to the North West, where he will look to build on this week’s win over close friend Aspinall.
“I’m happy to win it and obviously against a good friend, Nath,” he added.
“I can’t wait for next week in Manchester.
‘I know I have Michael van Gerwen next week in the first round, but obviously Nath will enjoy next week in his hometown, which is close to my house. I can’t wait.’