Luke Littler thanked his girlfriend for her support after his incredible win. The Nuke produced an amazing display over the weekend to beat Luke Humphries and claim the New Zealand Darts Masters title.
The 18-year-old from Warrington followed up his victory in Australia last weekend by averaging more than 115 in an 8-4 final success over defending champion Humphries in Auckland. Littler travelled Down Under for the championships in 2024, but said he and his family struggled with jet lag.
He said: “We were up at silly hours in the morning. We were in the same room so we were all up at the same time.” Littler revealed his manager, Martin Foulds, had to head home from this year of the tour as he thanked girlfriend, Faith Millar, for making the journey with him.
He said: “I’m pretty lucky that my girlfriend has come over because, if she didn’t, my manager went home because of an illness, so I would’ve been on my own for two weeks.
“It’s been good to have her here to have some support for myself.” Littler went public with his new partner this year and posed for pictures holding his Phil Taylor trophy with her after his triumph in Blackpool earlier this summer.
Earlier, Littler had beaten Mike De Decker 6-2 and Gerwyn Price 7-2, while Humphries reached the final with a 6-2 success against Damon Heta before seeing off Chris Dobey 7-4.
Littler always looked in control against Humphries, opening up an early 3-0 lead before extending his cushion to 6-2. Humphries reduced the deficit to two legs but Littler finished in style with successive 11-darters.
Reacting to the win, he told pdc.tv: “It felt very much the same as last week, I had a shaky start in my opening game but, once you come into finals night, you know you have to switch it on, and that’s what I did again tonight.
“I felt unbeatable up there. The crowd was brilliant and the venue was incredible – it felt like a Premier League night – and I’m very happy to lift another title.
“I’m playing very well at the moment, I’m enjoying my darts, and hopefully I can keep this winning streak going.”
Reacting to the defeat, Humphries said: “I played pretty well today but when you run into a 115 average there’s not much you can do. I think if I’d won that sixth leg it might have given me a glimmer of hope but the better player won for sure.
“When Luke’s on it, he’s untouchable. I held in there and I gave it my best but he was just too good in the end.”