Luke Littler shared Michael Smith’s joy after losing a leg in the World Series of Dats final.
Luke Littler celebrated with Michael Smith on stage after losing a leg in the World Series of Darts final. Littler was at his mesmeric best as he cruised to an 11-4 victory, securing the £80,000 top prize on his debut appearance at the tournament.
The match was initially shaping up to be a close encounter, with the two players sharing the first six legs before Littler began to pull away. He put together an unstoppable run of seven straight legs to leave Smith on the brink of a one-sided defeat.
Smith bucked the trend in the next leg, pulling off a brilliant 170 checkout to send the fans into a frenzy. Littler, showing his classy side, celebrated with his opponent on stage before taking to the oche and wrapping up the match.
He made a ‘reeling in’ gesture as Smith walked back after collecting his darts, a nod to the 170 checkout being known as the ‘big fish’. Smith responded by copying the gesture and fist-bumping Littler, with no sign of any bad blood between the two players.
They are known to get on well with each other and recently took a trip to a wildlife park in Australia, meeting animals such as kangaroos and koala bears. Earlier this year, Smith urged his fellow players to stop moaning about Littler and think about the extra money he is making them.
“He’s amazing, pushing the PDC boys even further,” said Smith. “There’s a few getting upset with it, but listen, my pockets get full every time he gets mentioned. I think they are getting annoyed. I had it last year, Littler is getting it all now.
“I don’t think they are happy that he’s getting everything. I’m not bothered. The players at 70 in the world shouldn’t be bothered because this young kid at the minute is one of the best players in the world.
“The people at 70, 80, 90, all they should think about is that their money is going to keep going up and up and up. The more this kid is playing, we get better sponsors. Hopefully Eddie [Hearn] puts the prize money up again.
“My money is just going to keep going up because some kid is doing it for me. I’m not annoyed and the other players shouldn’t either. The kid is doing nothing wrong.”
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