Luke Littler showed his class just moments before suffering defeat against Michael van Gerwen on the opening night of Premier League Darts action in Belfast.
The pair had been paired against each other in a repeat of the 2025 World Darts Championship final for the first match of their Premier League campaign.
Littler got the better of Van Gerwen at Alexandra Palace just over a month ago, but it was the Dutchman who secured revenge during a 6-5 classic at the SSE Arena.
Van Gerwen went 5-3 up in the first to six contest and had the darts in hand to book his spot in the opening night’s semi-finals.
However, not one to know when he’s beaten, Littler bounced back in style, winning the next two legs on the bounce to set up a grand-stand last-leg shootout.
Despite the mini-wobble, the three-time world champion kept his cool in the final leg to bounce back and eventually took out a nervy D8 to progress into the next round.
The crowd made no mistake as to who they wanted to progress into the last four, with loud boos heard as Van Gerwen was lining up his D8 outshot.
But Littler, who wasn’t having any of their attempts to put his opponent off, instructed them to stop by raising his hand and wagging his finger.
It comes just days after Van Gerwen blasted Littler for arriving late to a Premier League Darts photoshoot in the build-up to the competition’s start.
When asked about the delay, Van Gerwen replied: « 45 minutes late, you mean? They need to stop treating him as a baby, yeah? He’s not a baby any more. He’s 18 years old now.
« It happens. He has to learn but he needs to learn the hard way. It’s a professional sport so you have to be responsible for your actions as well, simple as that.
« If he turns up late for an interview, I don’t really mind, but now seven other people are waiting for him. That’s not really nice, is it? »
Littler, firmly tail between his legs, replied saying: « I always let my darts do the talking. But he [Van Gerwen] is not wrong. I was late. I’m 18 now and I’m responsible for my actions and I did get a little telling off. »
Elsewhere on the opening night of Premier League action, Chris Dobey beat Gerwyn Price in the pair’s quarter-final clash, Rob Cross downed Stephen Bunting and Luke Humphries proved no match for Nathan Aspinall.
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