Luke Littler BEATS world champion Luke Humphries on incredible Premier League darts debut to book semi-final spot
LUKE LITTLER opened his Premier League campaign by eliminating world champion Luke Humphries – all thanks to a Welsh whistler.
On his debut appearance, Luke The Nuke prevailed 6-2 in the quarter-finals of the tournament on night one in Cardiff.
The 17-year-old – supported by girlfriend Eloise – may have lost to Humphries in the World final on January 3, missing out on the £500,000 jackpot.
But he has been able to gain revenge twice in six days, following the success at the Dutch Masters last Saturday.
However, Humphries, 28, was frustrated when he was throwing for double eight in leg four, attempting to make it 2-2.
Someone in the crowd put off Cool Hand Luke with an audible whistle and the Berkshire Battler looked round to see if he could identify the culprit.
Littler took advantage with a break of throw and from 3-1 up he did not look back as he moved into the semi-finals where he will face Michael Smith - the only man in the competition he has not yet beaten.
There was also another whistle in the final leg when Humphries was throwing to try and avoid defeat and he walked off the stage in a right old hump.
The crowd were loving the rookie star and they started to sing: "There’s only one Luke Littler."
The opening match of the night at the Utilita Arena was a shocker.
Rob Cross and Peter Wright missed 19 double attempts between them as Cross, nicknamed Voltage, prevailed 6-3 in the first quarter-final of the 20th staging of the Prem.
For Snakebite, who had the Dragon on the front of his darts shirt, an average of 85 represents one of his worst-ever displays in this competition.
If Wright and wife Jo want to get on the road to Milton Keynes now, rather than stay another night in the Welsh capital, they could easily get away without too much traffic.
The 24-man Masters start at the Marshall Arena on Friday evening and Wright will face either Jonny Clayton or Krzysztof Ratajski on Saturday.
Gerwyn Price is not taking part in the Masters as he has pulled out for unspecified “family reasons”.
Michael van Gerwen, who beat Littler in the Dutch Darts Masters final last weekend, has won the Prem a record seven times but he opened his campaign by losing 6-5 to Smith.
