Luke Rittler cruised to the Maiden Lad Brokes UK Open title after hitting three-time champion James Wade 11-2 in one-sided finals.
Wade defeated World No. 1 Luke Humphreys and Northern Ireland’s Josh Rock on his way to the final at Butrin’s Minehead Resort, but was abolished by the World Champions.
Littler – who saw Jean Van Veign and Johnny Clayton earlier in the day – fired an average of 101.51 and nine maximums on the dominant display against Wade, gaining each of the first nine legs and grabbed full control.
Wade avoided the White Wash by getting a crude 10th leg, but Littler quickly won the 12th PDC title of his notable career to close the victory, closing off the Humphreys gap at the top of PDC merit.
How Littler cruised to the UK Open Title
Littler quickly controlled the contest by defeating Wade in the next 91 finish to track a 14-dirt hold.
Littler won the first nine legs to threaten whitewashing
Wade was unable to take advantage of a whimsical finish with a crude fourth foot. There, despite wasting eight darts on the double, the teenager broke again.
The back-to-back 14 dart and 11 dart break moved the Littler 8-0, increasing the chances of their first whitewash in the UK’s Open Finals.
Apparently struggling with a hand injury later in the contest, Wade cheered loudly after securing the 10th leg in the 21 darts, but the “machine” responded to losing the next leg by taking a checkout of 85 and easily extending the contest.
That foot from Wade delayed the inevitable as Littler burned two matches of darts with a double 12 and then rounded out the second-largest British Open Final victory in history by securing a match with Double Six.
Wade: Littler beat me to the bit!
“I played well in the semi-finals, but in the final he gasified me completely,” Wade said. I told ITV. “It seems very strange – I’m a senior darts player and he absolutely smacked me a bit.
“What can you do about it? He was a much better player. As much as it kills me, it’s what it is. It’s a big step in the right direction for me. It’s fair play for him.
Wade won his fourth British Open and had bid to move to one of Phil Taylor’s all-time record
Speaking about his victory, Littler said, “It’s something I want to win and this is my third time. Last year I made the quarterfinals.
“I was at work and wanted to pick up the trophies. This is something you can check out now from the list. Now, look at the Premier League and make a top four and make sure you go to 02. That’s going to be a long week.”
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What’s next?
The Premier League continues on Thursday in the evening at Brighton with five innings, with Michael Van Gerwen facing Gerwyn Price in the evening opening match before Littler takes over Chris Doby in the upper half of the draw.
Rob Cross meets Humphries before Stephen Bunting plays Nathan Aspinel to close out his actions in the quarterfinals. Watch the five Premier League darts nights, Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports+ live shows starting at 7pm on Thursday.
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