Luke Littler returned to winning ways on the Premier League stage with a sensational Night Five triumph in Cardiff last night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Littler found himself in unfamiliar territory upon arrival in the Welsh capital, languishing in seventh position following a sluggish start to the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the world number one got his campaign firmly back on track with victories over Josh Rock, Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton in front of a sell-out crowd at the Utilita Arena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Littler kicked off proceedings with a hard-fought win over Rock, defying a 103.72 average from the Northern Irishman to set up a semi-final showdown against Price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The World Champion then produced the performance of the tournament so far to topple home hero Price 6-3, averaging north of 111 and wrapping up victory with a majestic 170 checkout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Little repeated the feat in Thursday’s showpiece, converting his second 170 outshot of the evening en route to a 6-4 success against Welsh number one Clayton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pair traded breaks of throw in the opening exchanges, before Clayton landed a clinical 86 kill on the bull and left 46 after nine darts in leg four to close in on a 3-1 lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Littler responded with the magical big-fish finish to restore parity, and the outrageous quality continued in leg seven, with the Warrington wonderkid wiring double 15 for a nine-darter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having achieved perfection in Cardiff 12 months ago, Littler came agonisingly close to another moment of history, but ended up losing the leg as Clayton fired in a brilliant 11-dart hold to regain control at 4-3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Littler wrestled back the initiative with a 13-dart hold followed by a clutch 80 checkout, before pinning tops to claim a precious five league points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It took a while to get settled in, as I did in the first year, but tonight I did really well and I’m proud of myself,”\u00a0reflected Littler, who climbs to third in the league table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Every week I have felt good, but I’ve just not shown it until tonight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I slowed it down a little bit tonight, but I felt very confident. It wasn’t looking good in seventh spot!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Tonight, I just had to focus on myself. Against Gezzy and Jonny, I had to put the performances in, and that’s what I’ve done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We’ll take it to Minehead now and see how we do in the UK Open!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clayton enjoyed a successful return to home soil, defeating Gian van Veen and Luke Humphries to extend his lead at the top of the table to five points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 51-year-old overcame Van Veen 6-4 in the quarter-finals, as the league’s top two ahead of Thursday’s play went head-to-head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clayton then toppled Humphries by the same scoreline in the semi-finals, punishing a profligate display from the reigning champion to reach a second nightly final in three weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Humphries had kicked off Thursday’s action with a comprehensive 6-1 victory over Michael van Gerwen, reeling off five straight legs to dispatch the seven-time Premier League champion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the evening’s other quarter-final, Price edged past Night Four winner Stephen Bunting in a deciding-leg shoot-out, surviving a match dart to surge up to second in the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Price, Littler and Van Veen are tied on nine points apiece, with Van Gerwen a point adrift in fifth spot, two points ahead of Humphries in sixth position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bunting has slipped to seventh after surrendering a 3-1 lead against Price, while Rock is yet to open his account following a fifth consecutive quarter-final exit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rock and Bunting will lock horns on Night Six of the BetMGM Premier League next Thursday, as the darting roadshow rolls into Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Littler and Price will renew their rivalry in a repeat of last year’s Nottingham showpiece, while Clayton and Van Gerwen collide in a battle of the former champions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elsewhere, Humphries faces Van Veen in a crucial encounter, with the Dutchman aiming to continue his remarkable recent record against the 2023\/24 World Champion. Semi-Finals: <\/strong>Jonny Clayton 6-4 Luke Humphries; Luke Littler 6-3 Gerwyn Price<\/p>\n\n\n\n Final: <\/strong>Luke Littler 6-4 Jonny Clayton<\/p>\n\n\n\n Luke Littler returned to winning ways on the Premier League stage with a sensational Night Five triumph in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-10192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-darts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
RESULTS
Quarter-Finals: <\/strong>Luke Humphries 6-1 Michael van Gerwen; Jonny Clayton 6-4 Gian van Veen; Gerwyn Price 6-5 Stephen Bunting; Luke Littler 6-4 Josh Rock<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a> <\/td> NW<\/td> MW<\/td> L<\/td> +\/-<\/td> Legs Won<\/td> LWAT<\/td> Pts<\/td><\/tr> Jonny Clayton<\/td> 1<\/td> 8<\/td> 4<\/td> +14<\/td> 61<\/td> 24<\/td> 14<\/td><\/tr> Gerwyn Price<\/td> 1<\/td> 5<\/td> 4<\/td> -1<\/td> 46<\/td> 17<\/td> 9<\/td><\/tr> Luke Littler<\/td> 1<\/td> 4<\/td> 4<\/td> -3<\/td> 36<\/td> 13<\/td> 9<\/td><\/tr> Gian van Veen<\/td> 0<\/td> 6<\/td> 5<\/td> 0<\/td> 53<\/td> 16<\/td> 9<\/td><\/tr> Michael van Gerwen<\/td> 1<\/td> 5<\/td> 3<\/td> +1<\/td> 39<\/td> 17<\/td> 8<\/td><\/tr> Luke Humphries<\/td> 0<\/td> 3<\/td> 5<\/td> 0<\/td> 38<\/td> 12<\/td> 6<\/td><\/tr> Stephen Bunting<\/td> 1<\/td> 3<\/td> 4<\/td> +2<\/td> 32<\/td> 7<\/td> 5<\/td><\/tr> Josh Rock<\/td> 0<\/td> 0<\/td> 5<\/td> -18<\/td> 12<\/td> 3<\/td> 0<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"