Luke Littler produced a darting demolition job to dispatch James Wade 11-2 and triumph in Sunday’s Ladbrokes UK Open final.
Littler put on a darting clinic to clinch his maiden UK Open crown at Butlin’s Minehead Resort, averaging 101 and landing nine 180s in Sunday’s showpiece to clinch the £110,000 top prize.
Littler whitewashed Wade in eight straight legs when the pair met during last month’s Winmau World Masters, and history appeared to be repeating itself when he raced into a 9-0 lead.
The left-hander halted his 17-leg losing run against Littler to avoid another whitewash, but the Warrington wonderkid capped off another imperious campaign to clinch his fifth Premier televised title.
“This is a tournament I really wanted to win,” admitted Littler, who boasted a staggering tournament average of 104.35 across his six matches.
“It’s my third time at the UK Open. I came here as a 16-year-old a couple of years ago, I made the quarter-finals last year, and now I’ve gone three better this year to win it!
“I had a job to do tonight. I just wanted to pick up the trophy, and it’s one that I can tick off the list now!”
Littler had opened his campaign with a thrilling victory over 2017 champion Peter Wright in Friday’s fourth round, averaging 108.69 to prevail in a last-leg shoot-out.
The 18-year-old produced another ton-topping average to dispose of Jermaine Wattimena, although he was forced to defy a late onslaught from Krzysztof Ratajski to seal his spot in the last eight.
Littler continued his scintillating form on Finals Day, averaging 107 and 106 to seal emphatic wins over Gian van Veen and Jonny Clayton respectively.
Having swept aside Van Veen in a repeat of their 2023 World Youth Championship decider, Littler then won six of the last seven legs to topple Clayton 11-6 – avenging his defeat to the Welshman at last month’s World Masters.
The World Champion continued from where he left off against Wade, following up clinical 88 and 91 combinations with an 11-darter to establish a three-leg buffer.
Wade then squandered six darts at double to open his account in leg four, and he paid a heavy price, with Littler firing in legs of 13, 14, 14 and 11 darts to continue the procession and stretch his advantage to 8-0.
Wade eventually found his range on the outer ring in the latter stages of the contest, but Littler was in no mood to relent, pinning double six to cap off a virtuoso performance.
UK Open ever-present Wade performed superbly throughout the weekend in Minehead, producing some nerveless displays to progress to a first televised ranking final since October 2023.
The Aldershot veteran kicked off his challenge with victories over Scottish duo William Borland and Cameron Menzies, overturning a 9-7 deficit and surviving five match darts to topple Menzies.
Following a battling 10-8 win over former semi-finalist Rob Owen in the last 16, Wade then won through a deciding-leg epic against world number one Luke Humphries in the quarter-finals.
The 41-year-old crashed in six 180s in the final three legs of his exhilarating affair with Humphries, before putting in a merciless display to demolish Josh Rock 11-2 in the last four.
“This is a great step in the right direction for me,” insisted Wade, who is closing in on a return to the world’s top ten.
“I played well in the semi-finals, but in the final Luke just blew me away.
“I’m the senior dart player, but he absolutely smashed me to bits! What can you do against that? He was the far superior player.
“Fair play to Luke. At the moment, he is comfortably the best or second best dart player in the world.”
Elsewhere on Finals Day, Rock sealed his spot in a maiden televised ranking semi-final, following up wins over Ross Smith and Rob Cross with a 10-7 victory over 2019 champion Nathan Aspinall.
The afternoon’s other quarter-final saw Clayton run out a 10-8 winner against 2022 runner-up Michael Smith, as the Welshman produced a hat-trick of ton-plus checkouts to complete a terrific comeback.