English
A Week In Darts – April 10, 2024 – Littler Wins In Manchester To Go Top Of The Premier League
The Luke Littler phenomenon shows no signs of slowing down as the teenage sensation ticked off another milestone in Manchester last week. The 17-year-old made it back-to-back nightly wins to move to the top of the Premier League, whilst the PDC ProTour resumed this week with titles for Chris Dobey and Danny Noppert. Here’s our look back at the last seven days in the world of darts…
LITTLER DENIES NINE-DART PRICE TO WIN IN MANCHESTER
Luke Littler climbed to the top of the Premier League table after securing a second nightly win in a row in Manchester last Thursday.
‘The Nuke’ picked up his first success of the season in Belfast the previous week and followed that up with another five-point haul at the AO Arena.
The teenager defeated Gerwyn Price 6-3 in the final which helped him move above Luke Humphries and to the summit of the table after 10 weeks.
Earlier in the night, Littler had beaten Michael van Gerwen (6-3) and Nathan Aspinall (6-4) to reach another final, whilst Price had raised the roof with a nine-dart leg during his semi-final victory over Michael Smith.
PERFECTION FOR PRICE! 🏴
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) April 4, 2024
GERWYN PRICE DOES IT AGAIN IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE!
Magnificent from the Welshman, who raises the roof in Manchester with a sensational nine-darter!#PLDarts pic.twitter.com/hi5TugOWci
“The atmosphere was amazing, and I’m just really glad I won,” said Littler, who has enjoyed a dream start to his debut Premier League campaign.
“I think I’ve definitely settled into the Premier League now. In the first five to six weeks I won my first game but kept losing in the semi-finals, although winning last week gave me so much confidence coming into tonight.
“There’s still six weeks to go, so I’ve got to still keep plugging away, and hopefully I will make the play-offs.”
The Premier League roadshow continues in Birmingham this Thursday, with Littler set to begin his bid for a third consecutive nightly win against Cross.
PROTOUR TITLES FOR DOBEY AND NOPPERT
The world’s top players were in Leicester this week as the PDC ProTour season continued with a pair of Players Championship events.
On Monday, Chris Dobey overcame Josh Rock 8-6 to win Players Championship 7 and his fourth career PDC title.
“I gave myself one task this year, which was to improve my floor game,” Dobey said. “I think I’ve done that so far (this year).
“I’m playing well, I’m going into games feeling confident, and if you’re confident, you can go a long way.
“I finally broke into the top 16 after the World Championship and the aim is to stay there now. The hard work starts now, so dedication is the key.”
DOBEY IS THE CHAMPION! ⚫️⚪️
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) April 8, 2024
Chris Dobey does it! He caps off a remarkable day by winning #PC7, defeating Josh Rock 8-4 in the final to win his third Pro Tour title!
With a nine-darter earlier in the day, what a day of darts from Hollywood! pic.twitter.com/giG4sfu2Pw
It was a memorable day of action at the Mattioli Arena with three nine-dart legs hit during the tournament, including one by Dobey in his third-round win against Mickey Mansell.
Steve Beaton, just days after celebrating his 60th birthday, threw a perfect leg, albeit in a losing cause against James Hurrell in the first round, and Daryl Gurney also hit perfection with a nine darter in his second-round tie with Jeffrey de Graaf.
On Tuesday, Danny Noppert clinched his fifth ProTour title as he beat world champion Luke Humphries 8-6 to win Players Championship 8.
The Dutchman continued his impressive record in Players Championship finals, making it five wins from five deciders as he saw off the world number one in a close contest.
NOPPERT TAKES THE TITLE! 🥶🏆
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) April 9, 2024
Danny Noppert defeats the World Champion, Luke Humphries, 8-6 to secure glory at Players Championship 8!
'The Freeze' has NEVER been beaten in a Pro Tour final! pic.twitter.com/a1FaiS2m8p
“I am speechless, but I am always fighting in finals,” Noppert said.
“Last week I played Luke and he beat me really hard. Today I got revenge and it is a really good feeling.
“Two years ago I was a UK Open winner and this year I am really going for it, I hope I can take another big title.”
Noppert’s success yesterday makes it eight different winners from the first eight Players Championship events of the season – the first time this has happened since 2017.
GUYANA BOOK WORLD CUP RETURN
Guyana will make their PDC World Cup of Darts return this summer after winning through last weekend’s Latin America Qualifier in Costa Rica.
The team of Sudesh Fitzgerald and Norman Madhoo were victorious in the inaugural qualifier last year, and the pair repeated the feat in San Jose to confirm their spot in the field again for 2024.
Fitzgerald and Madhoo will represent Guyana again in the pairs competition, which takes place in Frankfurt from June 27-30.
Guyana will make their World Cup of Darts return in June, after Sudesh Fitzgerald & Norman Madhoo won through last weekend's Latin America Qualifier! 🇬🇾
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) April 8, 2024
The qualifier was open to nations across Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean, and featured 12 different teams.
The Guyanese duo were dominant in the round-robin stage, dropping just two legs on their way to finishing top of Group B.
A whitewash win over the Panama pairing of Andres Vega and Antonio Arango took them through to the semi-finals, where they saw off Costa Rica’s Denis Valerin and Jason Calderon to reach the final.
In the decider, Fitzgerald and Madhoo got the better of the Nicaraguan pair Norwin Jimenez and Gerald Ordenana 4-1 to book their return to Germany in a few months’ time.
Pictures: PDC