Luke Littler’s stunning Players Championship run ended in final thriller as Luke Humphries sets major Ally Pally marker

LUKE HUMPHRIES showed Luke Littler that helium volition not surrender his satellite crown truthful easy this Christmas.

Littler heads to Ally Pally adjacent period arsenic the bookies’ favourite to assistance the Sid Waddell Trophy – and become, aged 17, the youngest darts satellite champion successful history.

But Cool Hand Luke – the antheral who lifted the sport's biggest prize successful January – has bragging rights aft helium bagged the Players Championship Finals past nighttime with a 11-7 triumph implicit The Nuke.

This was the contention everybody successful Somerset had hoped they would spot and it happened aft Littler overcame Ross Smith 11-9 successful the semi-finals.

And wrong the adjacent hour, the satellite No.1 precocious to the last with a 11-8 occurrence implicit large Dutchman Dirk van Duijvenbode.

This was the archetypal decision Littler had experienced pursuing a 12-game unbeaten streak.

That superb tally included lifting the Grand Slam of Darts successful Wolverhampton and surpassing the £1million for yearly prize money.

It was a twelvemonth agone this play that Littler won the World Youth last connected the Butlin’s Minehead signifier and enactment himself connected astir people’s radar.

In his debut tournament, helium raced into the last disconnected the backmost of 5 consecutive ton-plus averages.

And though helium did instrumentality retired checkouts of 170, 164, 136 and 105, it was Humphries, 29, who celebrated a 5th TV rubric of 2024 and banked the £120,000 winners' cheque.

This was a good-natured, well-spirited showdown betwixt 2 rivals that respect each different but the referee had to get progressive successful limb 14 arsenic idiosyncratic was whistling portion Humphries faced the board.

Meanwhile, oche fable Steve Beaton volition effort contiguous to get 1 last TV farewell earlier hanging up his darts arsenic a professional.

Beaton – the 1996 Lakeside champion – is retiring astatine the extremity of the twelvemonth astatine the property of 60.

He has appeared successful each satellite darts title since 1992 – BDO and PDC – but that series is nether threat.

The Bronzed Adonis is not portion of the tract for this winter’s PDC lawsuit but gets 1 much accidental to suffice via a circuit paper holder lawsuit successful Wigan.