MARDLE SCHOOLS LITTLER ON BIG FISH CELEBRATION
20/03/2026 By Aaron Nijjar
WAYNE MARDLE has told Luke Littler he’s been doing his big fish celebration all wrong.
World No.1 Littler mimics reeling in a fish with an imaginary fishing rod after firing in a 170 finish.
To score a 170, a player must hit two treble twenties, followed by a bullseye with the final dart.
‘The Nuke’ fired in the outshot in his Premier League semi-final clash against Michael van Gerwen last night in Dublin to level the affair at 5-5 in the 3Arena.
MVG had earlier hit the same checkout to go 5-3 ahead and even mimicked Littler’s celebration.
But the teen sensation had the final laugh, edging out the bout 6-5 before staging a brilliant comeback to defeat Gerwyn Price by the same scoreline in the final.
Former pro Mardle pointed out Littler should be mimicking reeling in the imaginary rod the other way.
He said: “You real it out. You need to reel it in.
“The fish is already out there, stop reeling it out pal.”
The pair were then shown a video of Littler performing his on-oche celebration, prompting Mardle to comment: “That’s reeling it out.”
The remark drew boos from the Dublin crowd, with Littler firing back: “Come on now.”
Mardle replied with a playful jab, saying: “You can’t argue with kids.”
Littler sits second in the Premier League table, just behind Jonny Clayton, the only other player to have secured two nightly wins in the competition.
He added: “I’ve definitely learnt a lot, especially with the fans. In the first game against (Stephen) Bunting I didn’t give anything to the fans, I didn’t give any reaction and got the job done.
“It was the same in the final when I was 5-0 down, everyone doubted me, I definitely doubted myself but I had a little laugh and a joke.
“I was just having a bit of fun because I knew I was beaten.
“I’m still learning not to react to the fans. I didn’t do much then, only for the first leg, and then I can build on it. It is what it is, people want to see new winners but I’ve won again.”
Image by Taylor Lanning.
