Teenager Luke Littler overpowered qualifier Martin Lukeman to win the Grand Slam of Darts on his tournament debut. The 17-year-old lost the first two legs of the final but then reeled off 15 in a row before sealing a 16-3 victory, his first major ranking title and the first prize of £150,000. Littler, who hit 12 180s and averaged 107.
08 in a ruthless display, told Sky Sports: “I’m just so glad to win it. We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity.
“I’ve been playing well all week long, it’s been a long week but it’s paid off and I’m so happy to win this. “I’ve always got to have my scoring power with me, no matter who I play, it’s got to be there. I can’t afford to drop off in any legs.
I had a slow start but I kicked on from there. “I knew coming into the tournament that if I did get my hands on the trophy I’d be up to number five in the world. “Number five in the space of 10 months, there’s still two more ranking tournaments to go so hopefully I can go a bit higher than five.
” Lukeman was full of praise for Littler after seeing his remarkable run come to an end in Wolverhampton. “He’s just different gravy. He’s brilliant isn’t he?” the world number 45 said.
“He’s done great for the PDC, done great for the sport, all the new fans, the sponsorships.” Littler had earlier overturned a four-leg deficit to beat Gary Anderson 16-15 in a thrilling semi-final. Anderson hit finishes of 164, 142, 124 and 102 as he opened up a 13-9 lead, but Littler stormed back to win seven of the last nine legs.
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Sports
‘He’s just different gravy’ – Luke Littler puts on masterclass to win Grand Slam, his first major title
Teenager Luke Littler overpowered qualifier Martin Lukeman to win the Grand Slam of Darts on his tournament debut.