Luke Littler confirms fans' suspicions after first Premier League win as star makes two key changes

Luke Littler confirms fans' suspicions after first Premier League win as star makes two key changes

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Lewis Winter

By Lewis Winter


Published: 29/03/2024

- 08:29

The teenage sensation was victorious on night nine of the Premier League

Luke Littler has revealed he has made two key changes to his game after he secured his first nightly win in the Premier League.

The 17-year-old has moved up three places in the table after triumphing in Belfast on Thursday after a tweak to his throw and practice routine.


Littler dropped down to fifth and outside the play-off places following his quarter-final loss in Dublin on night eight last week.

But he bounced back in stunning fashion in Northern Ireland on night nine, as he beat Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen and Nathan Aspinall.

Luke Littler

Luke Littler won night nine of the Premier League in Belfast

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Littler was handed the tough task of facing Humphries in the first quarter-final of the night.

The world No 1 and reigning world champion had won the last three weeks to propel himself to the top of the table.

The match was full of quality and went to a decider which Littler won to come out victorious 6-5.

Van Gerwen then stood in the Littler's way but the Dutchman, who beat Michael Smith in his quarter-final, was unable to thwart the youngster.

Littler won 6-3 to set up just his second final in the Premier League and first since night two in Berlin.

Aspinall overcame Peter Wright in the semi-final and sped into a 3-1 lead in the final.

But Littler stormed back to win five of the next six legs to mop up a 6-4 win and collect five crucial points.

Many fans on social media suspected that Littler had made an alteration to his throw throughout the night.

One X user wrote: "Littler changed his throw again?" While another put: "Littler has changed this throw??"

A third wrote: "Don’t know if it’s just me but Littler’s throw seems a bit different tonight for some reason."

A fourth posted: "Littler changing his throw again. See how long it lasts this time."

Littler confirmed fans' suspicions following his victory over Aspinall, saying he had made a conscious effort to give himself 'extra time'.

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Luke Littler

Luke Littler has moved up into second place in the Premier League

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He also revealed that he has been practising a lot more than usual, including playing a practice game against Rob Cross before the action began.

Since bursting onto the scene in December, Littler has often spoken of the small amount of time he spends at the practice board compared to his rivals.

Littler told Sky Sports: "I'm happy to win, it's my first one.

"But as people may have seen, I've changed my throw to just take that little bit of extra time and then release the next two.

Luke Littler

Luke Littler confirmed he made a change to his throw in the Premier League

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"I've put more practice in, and it's paid off. Sometimes I'm rushing and then obviously I put more practice in tonight and it's paid off.

"You take that little bit more time before I release my next dart.

"I had a good practice game with Rob Cross before we came out tonight, we both had over 100 average, and I said to Rob 'Cheers for the game'.

"But it got me up for it and I practised well and I'm glad I brought it on here."

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