Luke Littler was left to poke fun at himself after a slightly embarrassing start to the World Grand Prix final against Luke Humphries in Leicester, but ultimately it did not matter
Luke Littler had a comical response after narrowly avoiding the ultimate World Grand Prix humiliation.
‘The Nuke’ faced off against world No. 1 Luke Humphries in the final of the World Grand Prix in Leicester, where the two top darts players on the globe clashed once more.
Despite the high stakes, Littler remained cool and collected during the initial legs, even though he was notably wasteful in the second leg of the match.
After taking a 1-0 lead in the first leg of the final, Littler threw 12 darts at the double to start the leg, with the Grand Prix’s unique double-in, double-out format proving a challenge for the world champion.
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Humphries nearly swept past Littler, missing two darts at double eight to win the leg before ‘The Nuke’ could even score, reports the Daily Star.
With the crowd’s jeers echoing behind him, Littler stepped up to the oche to throw his 13th dart at the double, but amusingly mocked his own struggles by drawing a circle around the board with his finger and pulling a puzzled face.
His unusual technique evidently paid off as he hit D16 on his 13th attempt, eliciting ironic cheers from the spectators and bringing a grin to his face.
Littler ultimately lost the leg before he could return to the board again. However, he quickly shrugged off narrowly avoiding the ultimate embarrassment and went on to clinch the first set.
‘The Nuke’ is on a mission to claim his first World Grand Prix title, having been knocked out in the first round by Rob Cross last year. He took a 4-1 lead in the race to six.
However, he narrowly missed out on a rare Grand Prix nine-darter after failing to hit the bullseye.
Littler secured his spot in the final with a convincing 5-1 victory over Jonny Clayton. His path to the final also saw him defeat Gerwyn Price, reigning champion Mike De Decker and Gian van Veen, who despite losing 2-0, set a record-high World Grand Prix average of nearly 107.
On the other hand, Humphries had a less dramatic journey to the final, beating Danny Noppert 5-3 in the semi-final after dispatching Cameron Menzies, Krzysztof Ratajski and Nathan Aspinall.