Premier League Darts Night 8 Newcastle: Luke Littler runs riot on Tyneside

Luke Littler strengthened his position at the top of the Premier League table in Newcastle with his fourth win of the season.

The Nuke has now hit 102 180’s during the campaign, which is 52 more than anyone else. Luke Humphries is second in the 180 ranking with 50 maximums at this stage in the tournament.Littler achieved 128 180’s in his winning campaign last year and looks set to obliterate that this year.

The Nuke started off the night in a top vs bottom clash against Stephen Bunting. The 18-year-old whitewashed the Bullet winning, averaging 109.98.

The second quarter final saw Rob Cross defeat Gerwyn Price for the second week in a row. The Iceman just couldn’t seem to get going in the early stages and Cross took full advantage going into an early 4-0 lead. Voltage eventually wrapped up the contest 6-2 to seal his place in the semi-final.

Local hero Chris Dobey was involved in the third Quarter final of the evening, facing the World number one Humphries. Hollywood had the Geordie crowd on their feet after hitting a 112 finish in the third leg but failed to really capitalise and fell to a 6-3 defeat.

The final quarter final saw a repeat of last years final in the Toon. Newly crowned European Tour champion Nathan Aspinall saw off Michael van Gerwen in a last leg decider. The Asp picked up two crucial points to close the gap on Cross and Price.

Littler then overcame Cross 6-3 in the semi final to earn a spot in his sixth final of the tournament, only failing to gain a spot in the last two on two occasions. Cross picked up two points for his quarter final win but remains outside the play offs on leg difference with Price still in fourth.

In the second semi final The Asp put the world number one Humphries under serious pressure. However Cool Hand Luke had different ideas and came back from 4-2 down to win a last leg decider setting up another match with his biggest rival. The former World Champion averaged 106.73 on his way to the final.

Littler was rampant in the final and was 4-0 up within a matter of minutes. Cool Hand Luke missed nine darts at double with Littler firing his way to his fourth nightly win of the campaign with a 6-1 win.

The 18-year-old was only on the stage for 36 minutes during the night, beating Bunting in 10 minutes,Cross in 15 minutes, and Humphries in 11 minutes.

Littler sits eight points clear of Humphries at the top of the league on 26 points whilst van Gerwen and Price complete the top four with eight weeks of action to go until the Play-Offs at the 02.

The Premier League is back next Thursday in Berlin.