NUKE WINS ON NIGHT OF TWO NINES

By Phil Lanning

LUKE LITTLER won his second Premier League night as TWO nine-darters were hit in Brighton. 

The teen sensation outgunned Nathan Aspinall 6-3 to close the gap on Luke Humphries at the top of the table. 

But earlier both Luke Humphries and Rob Cross hit their first-ever televised perfect legs to win a set of 18 carat solid gold darts from BetMGM worth £30,000.

But despite the nines, both Humphries and Cross went onto to lose their matches.

Littler, 18, said: “Luke was so clear coming into tonight. I was concentrating on my own game.

“Coming off the back of the UK Open I was playing really well. I think I played really well tonight and this is why I’ve picked up another trophy. 

“I’m going for those gold darts. I’ve still got a few weeks left!

“My main goal is the top four. First, second, third or fourth just get to the O2. That’s when the proper title defence takes place.” 

Humphries hit his perfect leg against Cross in the quarters but lost out 6-4. 

He said: “For me, it’s not about the money or what it’s worth. I want to win them darts just for the fact of it’d be nice to have in your house and little things like that. I’d rather have that than 30 grand in cash.

“I would have rather won the game tonight, but it’s a nice second prize. When they told us about it in Belfast, I knew I’d love to win one because of how prestigious it could become, and no one’s ever won it.

“Michael didn’t know about it. He was like, ‘What are you on about?’ and I was the one that told him that if you hit a nine-darter, you win an 18-Carat gold set of darts that are worth about 30 grand. Strangely, it was on my mind tonight and I hit, so it’s a nice little bonus.

“When you’re up on the stage, you’re not thinking about what you can win from it. I felt quite confident on the double 12, to be honest. It wasn’t playing on my mind. If there’s money on it, you still feel a little bit of pressure of course, but I just wanted to give the crowd something great.”

In the opening clash, Michael van Gerwen beat Gerwyn Price 6-3. Littler then outgunned Chris Dobey 6-5 and Nathan Aspinall took out Stephen Bunting 6-2, leaving The Bullet pointless after five weeks. 

Image by Kieran Cleeves.