WARRINGTON teenager Luke Littler continued his red-hot form with a stunning six-leg victory over world No 4 Rob Cross in the first round of the Players Championship Finals in Minehead.
The newly-crowned Grand Slam of Darts champion was once again in fantastic form to defeat Cross 6-0 in just over 15 minutes.
He was virtually unplayable, averaging 112.73 to kick-off his campaign – the second-highest in the tournament’s history.
Littler will now be joined in round two by defending world champion Luke Humphries who cruised past Gabriel Clemens with a 6-2 win.
However many big names will not be featuring after a number of shocks on Friday saw big names including Michael van Gerwen, Gerwyn Price, Stephen Bunting and Chris Dobey all knocked out.
Van Gerwen in particular languishes in a calendar year without a televised title for just the second time since 2012.
Littler was once again tghe star of the night, for whom there is a long way to go as the format is relentless, with multiple matches to negotiate today and Sunday.
However, Littler has shown little sign of slowing down after winning his 10th title of his debut year on the PDC Tour and a third major title of the year and must be considered one of the favourites for next month’s World Championships.
IMPERIOUS LITTLER WHITEWASHES CROSS! ☢️
Another OBSCENE display from Luke Littler!
He marks his Players Championship Finals debut with a six-leg blitz of Rob Cross, averaging 112.73 to kick off his campaign in style!
📺 https://t.co/AmuG0PMn18#PCF2024 | R1 pic.twitter.com/Rx8MHaEQmy
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) November 22, 2024
