2024 Premier League Play-Offs Review: Littler lights up the O2
The night was set up for success.
A record crowd of 14,000 filled The O2 Arena in London and watched on as darts got elevated to another level. The culmination of the Premier League which began in February, settled on Night 18.
Tale of the tungsten
Darts is a sport which has skyrocketed in success over the last few months, largely down to the meteoric rise of 17-year-old sensation, Luke Littler.
A rookie at the World Darts Championship and an unknown outside the darts sphere, Littler went all the way to the final, where he was defeated by world number one, Luke Humphries.
Off the back of this success, he was invited to play in this year’s Premier League for the first time. He topped the Premier League table with a staggering run of form but now was the huge test.
The field was packed with star names, as seven-time Premier League winner Michael van Gerwen was vying for an eighth triumph in twelve years. Two-time runner-up Michael Smith was hoping it was third time lucky. And world number one Luke Humphries was looking to follow up his World Darts Championship win with the Premier League.
So, what happened on the night? The Sports Gazette attended The O2 Arena and watched on as the play-offs unfolded.
Luke Littler vs Michael Smith
First up was the clash of Luke Littler against Michael Smith.
Smith had the best record of all Premier League players against league-topping Littler this season, with five wins from seven matches.
The crowd were certainly up for it, and so were the players.
Littler took the first leg, Smith returned with a leg of his own. Then Littler won the third with a 144 checkout. He then went on to throw seven perfect darts, holding the crowd in the palm of his hand. A quite magnificent feat, especially for someone that young.
https://twitter.com/SkySportsDarts/status/1793712666973786198
He was feeding off the energy of the crowd, and enjoying it too.
Pressure doesn’t seem to get to Littler, and to be in the stadium, to see Littler on stage in front of 14,000 people, doing what he does best, was incredible.
Smith is no novice too. A grand slam champion and the world number two.
Littler and Smith were exchanging big shots, much like Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk last week, but with darts in hand.
The gunslingers were playing at such an incredible pace, it was hard to keep up.
A different format to the World Darts Championship, as the first to ten legs won. And the two didn’t hang around.
Two players, well and truly destined for the big stage, but cracks started to appear in leg eight.
Many leg-winning darts were missed, as Littler checked out for four, while Smith missed three leg-winning darts beforehand.
Littler was never in much trouble but struggled to put Smith away in leg eleven. Three missed darts at double five highlighted a glimpse of complacency, but Smith didn’t look like he believed in himself enough to turn the tide.
Smith had won six of his last eight Premier League games with a good record against Littler. But ‘Luke the Nuke’ never looked like losing.
The tournament’s top maximum scorer gained five legs of breathing space, cut to four by Smith in the penultimate leg.
Littler left a 170 finish for the match, perhaps a bit of showboating. However, he’s got the ability to do so. He cruised to a 10-5 finish to progress to the final.
Luke Littler beats Michael Smith to reach the final! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/WRBlqiWdlJ
— Sky Sports Darts (@SkySportsDarts) May 23, 2024
Michael van Gerwen vs Luke Humphries
This game was predicted to be more even than the previous semi-final, but it didn’t pan out that way.
Van Gerwen and Humphries won a leg each in the opening two legs, and it was 2-2 after four legs.
A 132 checkout from Humphries showed his class, winning the fourth leg and geeing up the crowd.
Luke Humphries hit this 132 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/xZSBcamqxZ
— Sky Sports Darts (@SkySportsDarts) May 23, 2024
A 17-dart-leg won Humphries the seventh leg to go 5-2 up, and it looked like it was going to be an all-English final.
Humphries had six darts at 102, highlighting how off the pace van Gerwen was. The Englishman won six legs on the spin, an unusually bad performance from MvG. Much like Smith, his head didn’t seem in the game.
A 104 checkout in leg twelve showed there was still life in van Gerwen, and he won the following leg to close the gap on Humphries.
With someone like van Gerwen who has the experience of playing in big matches and winning them for many years, you could never write him off.
However, a 125 checkout to go 9-5 up gave Humphries some crucial breathing space, helping him keep calm and win the game.
Once again, a 10-5 win, and once again, a Littler vs Humphries final.
Luke Littler vs Luke Humphries
A rematch of January’s World Darts Championship final, as the battle of the Luke’s took place again. Two Englishmen. The two most in-form players on the planet. One title on the line.
Here we go.
The final is set 🏆
🟣Luke Littler
vs
🔵 Luke Humphries #PDC #PDCDarts #littler #humphries pic.twitter.com/GWuFKLtxl5— Paul Parker (@PaulParker_20) May 23, 2024
They were first and second in the Premier League this season, and this is a story steeped in history. The two have known each other for many years, but now was the time to put friendships aside and focus on the present.
The entrances created loads of noise, but both men seemed focused.
Whoever won would be a first-time Premier League winner, so it was a match of momentous magnitude.
Littler won the first leg, a crucial set to win to set the tone.
Wayne Mardle on Sky Sports said that Humphries looked ‘a little nervy’ at the back end of the first leg, and Littler took the second leg.
It was the dream start for Littler, with Humphries hitting back, as ‘Cool Hand Luke’ won the third leg with ease.
Humphries wasn’t giving up the ghost, persisting with his darts and making Littler work for it. 3-3 after six legs. The game was evenly poised.
A checkout of 118 highlighted the class of the world number one in a cracking game of darts. The score was 5-5 going into the break It couldn’t have been closer.
And then, Littler produced one of the greatest moments in darts history. A nine-darter. In the final. In front of the world number one. Unbelievable.
LUKE LITTLER HITS A NINE-DARTER IN THE FINAL!!! 🚨🤯 pic.twitter.com/BY1mUr2mMA
— Sky Sports Darts (@SkySportsDarts) May 23, 2024
A 134 checkout in the 16th leg was class from Humphries, but the crowd was on Littler’s side. The momentum was on Littler’s side. And all of a sudden, he was one leg away from the title.
And with three match darts, he only needed one to hit double twenty and win the Premier League for the first time.
It’s a first Premier League win, and I get the feeling it’s the first of many.
A genuinely incredible journey, and it’s only just getting started.
