WARRINGTON’S Luke Littler successfully defended his Belgian Darts Open title last night (Sunday) with a stunning 8-5 victory over home favourite Mike De Decker.
Littler averaged 103 and threw six 180s to defend his unbeaten record in the competition, turning down a crowd-pleasing 170 finish in the final leg before winning on tops and being drenched in water by his opponent during the post-match celebrations.
The 18-year-old won the Belgian Darts Open in his debut year in 2024 and remains unbeaten in 11 matches after overcoming Luke Woodhouse, Dave Chisnall and James Wade on Sunday before defeating De Decker in the final.
Littler added the Belgian Darts Open to the World Championship and the UK Open titles he has already won this year.
After the match, he said, “I’m very happy to retain the title in front of these great fans.
Just 20 minutes after beating Wade in the semi-final, the teenager was back on stage for the final, storming into a 3-1 lead. But he met with some resistance from his Belgian opponent, who broke back immediately, the first of three breaks of the Littler throw in the match.
But Litler refused to surrender his lead and won the ninth leg in 12 darts before breaking again in the 10th leg to move 7-3 ahead.
De Decker fought back again by taking the next two legs before Littler sealed victory in the 13th, setting up a Big Fish 170 finish and hitting two treble 20s before sensibly hitting a single 10 instead of going for the bullseye.
Despite the jeers of the home fans, Littler then hit tops to defend a European Tour title for the first time and celebrated alongside De Decker, who poured water over him.
When later asked what his ambitions were for the rest of the year, Littler replied: “No idea. I just have to see what comes at me.
“I said after the World Championship, if I don’t win anything throughout the whole year, I’m still a world champion.
“I’m happy to win the UK Open and come back here and do back-to-back.”
Over the moon to retain this one and become a back to back belgian darts open champion🤩🏆 fans have been great means a lot so thank you🙌🏼 pic.twitter.com/frbzSnb2Or
— Luke Littler (@LukeTheNuke180) March 9, 2025
