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6 months ago
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Luke Littler could hardly contain his delight at winning his first major darts title, while his rival Luke Humphries offered a strange excuse for his defeat.
The 17-year-old Littler overcame Humphries 11-7 to win the Premier League Darts title and claim £275,000 in the process - hitting a remarkable nine-darter in the final.
Afterwards he cupped his ear to the crowd and declared: 'One thing I just wanted to say, to all the doubters, "Hello!" I've just picked up this, you're not doubting me any more.
'It's so good to win but in front of my family and my girlfriend I don't know what to do.'
'I just thought "this is on"', he said of the final. 'I'm just enjoying it. I've been practicing really hard. Dead focused. All the hard work goes into this.
Luke Littler embraces his girlfriend Eloise after winning his first major darts title
Littler confrontationally turned to the crowd and cupped his ear after winning
Luke Humphries made a bizarre excuse for why he found it difficult on stage at the O2
'I'm a major winner now, I can put myself in that hat. Matchplay - I can't wait to play them all!'
Littler hugged and kissed his girlfriend Eloise Milburn, 22, following his victory and appeared to particularly enjoy confronting the crowd when being interviewed by Sky Sports, showing his 'doubters' his prize.
Humphries, who was the man to end Littler's fairytale run at the World Championships earlier this year, said he was badly affected on stage by the wind.
Bizarrely, 'Cool Hand Luke' claimed: 'I was trying to stick in there, there was a massive breeze on stage all night and it is so hard to deal with.
'He is a fantastic player, he really is. I think me and Luke are the two greatest players in the world at the moment.
'We are going to have many battles. He deserves to be Premier League champion.'
Littler was superb and was the first man to hit a nine-darter in the final since Phil Taylor
Littler became the first player to throw a nine-dart finish in the Premier League final since Phil Taylor did it twice in 2010.
He booked his place in the final on Thursday after cruising past Michael Smith 10-5 earlier in the night. In his first time in the competition, across 16 weeks of league action, Littler flourished and finished top of the table with 40 points after winning four nights. No doubt it is the first major trophy of many to come.
English (US)