Luke Littler enhanced his ever growing reputation as he hit a perfect nine dart leg en route to claiming Players Championship 1 on his Pro Tour debut in Wigan.

Nuke Explodes Onto Pro Tour Scene In Style

You could be forgiven for questioning whether, after the highs of a World Championship final, maiden World Series title and impressive opening to his Premier League campaign in recent weeks, Luke Littler would fancy it on an (apparently) cold Monday afternoon in Wigan.

‘The Nuke’ answered, as he always seems to, in the most emphatic fashion possible.

An intriguing opener with Jim Williams could have been difficult. Dropping just one leg and finishing with an average of 105 made it look anything but.

Luke Woodhouse was next up. Woodhouse having the audacity to break the Littler throw in the first leg of the contest. Littler responded by winning 5 of the next 6 legs before closing out a 6-3 win.

Surprise package Michele Turetta came next in the last 32, the Italian having beaten top seed Dave Chisnall 6-1 in his first match on the Pro Tour. Not to be upstaged, Littler raced into a 5-1 lead before throwing a perfect nine dart leg to clinch a 6-1 victory, his second PDC perfect leg after his effort against Nathan Aspinall at the Bahrain Masters.

He almost repeated the feat in his last 16 encounter with Cameron Menzies, hitting 8 perfect darts in the fifth leg before coming inside on his attempt at double 12. Menzies then hit 8 perfect darts of his own before missing his attempt at double 18. Littler sealed a 6-2 win in the very next leg, ending with an average of 109.

That dipped to 100 as James Hurrell was dispatched in the quarter finals, the 17 year old a 6-3 winner on this occasion before Scotsman Alan Soutar led 3-1 and 5-4 before Littler came back to win their semi final in a last leg shootout.

Ryan Searle was the man to stand between Littler and a maiden PDC ranking title, ‘Heavy Metal’ having seen off Gian van Veen in the other semi final.

Both players fired in maximums in the opening leg to set the tone for what was to be a breath-taking final, Littler securing the leg against the throw before consolidating with a hold in successive 13 darters.

Searle got in on the act in the next leg, a 12 dart hold courtesy of three two treble visits and a 103 checkout.

The standard was relentless throughout, both players averaging around 110 as holds of throw were exchanged, Littler notably hitting a 136 checkout in leg 8.

Indeed, neither player required a sixth visit to the board to win a leg until Searle won leg 13 in 18 darts.

The next leg saw Searle pile in two maximums to break the Littler throw for the first time and set up a last leg decider on his own throw.

Searle’s opening ton was almost predictably followed by a Littler maximum, his seventh of the contest, which helped set up a 13 dart break to clinch the title.

Day Of Shocks Sees Seeds Tumble Early On

Other than arguably the least shocking winner on the day, the early rounds were littered with shocks, as only three of the top 16 seeds made it through to the last 32.

In addition to Dave Chisnall’s opening round loss to Italian debutant Michele Turreta, World Champion Luke Humphries was whitewashed by Ian White in the last 64 while fellow Premier League competitors Rob Cross and Michael Smith were also beaten at the same stage. Cross was defeated by WDF Champion Andy Baetens while Smith lost to James Hurrell.

Recent Masters champion Stephen Bunting was a first round casualty as he lost to Dom Taylor while Peter Wright, Joe Cullen, Damon Heta, Jonny Clayton, Dimitri van den Bergh and Dirk van Duijvenbode also fell at the first hurdle.

Price Pulls Out Of Dolan Clash Mid Match

Welshman Gerwyn Price had beaten Karel Sedlacek and Matthew Dennant in his opening two matches, averaging almost 111 against the latter to set up a tie with Brendan Dolan.

Dolan was 4-2 up when Price walked away from the encounter, posting on social media shortly after bemoaning the conditions and confirming he won’t participate in tomorrow’s action.

Three Perfect Legs On Remarkable Start To Tour

Luke Littler wasn’t the only player to achieve darting perfection on Monday as THREE perfect legs were thrown on the day.

Leighton Bennett got the first of the season in his last 64 win over Lukas Wenig while Mickey Mansell threw the other in his match with Krzysztof Ratajski.

Results

2024 Players Championship 1

Robin Park Tennis Centre, Wigan

Monday February 12

Last 16

Luke Littler 6-2 Cameron Menzies

James Hurrell 6-3 Jamie Hughes

Alan Soutar 6-1 Lee Evans

Nick Kenny 6-5 Mickey Mansell

Ryan Searle 6-0 Mike De Decker

Jose de Sousa 6-5 Nathan Aspinall

Brendan Dolan 6-4 Ricardo Pietreczko

Gian van Veen 6-5 Kim Huybrechts

Quarter-Finals

Luke Littler 6-3 James Hurrell

Alan Soutar 6-5 Nick Kenny

Ryan Searle 6-2 Jose de Sousa

Gian van Veen 6-5 Brendan Dolan

Semi-Finals

Luke Littler 7-6 Alan Soutar

Ryan Searle 7-3 Gian van Veen

Final

Luke Littler 8-7 Ryan Searle