Luke Littler left ‘gutted’ at Saudi Masters despite top birthday prize | Other | Sport

Luke Littler may have won the Saudi Arabia Darts Masters but confessed he is “gutted” that nobody was able to hit a nine-darter. The ‘Nuke’ was in flying form at the Global Theatre in Riyadh this week, securing a 6-1 win over Paul Lim on Monday before smashing through stiff competition in Tuesday’s finals event.

The 18-year-old, who turns 19 on Wednesday, stunned Gian van Veen 6-4 and got the better of Gerwyn Price 7-5 to stamp his place in the final, where he met Dutch titan, Michael van Gerwen. An 8-5 win over his long-time rival to claim the tournament’s £30,000 prize will have certainly come as the perfect birthday present, with Littler outlining his plans of celebration. He said: “Yeah, very happy to win.

“Obviously, celebrating my birthday tomorrow. Going to go over to Dubai with my family and girlfriend, and yeah, have three days off.”

However, Littler also explained how he was left feeling a little unhappy at the fact nobody managed to secure a nine-dart finish and a £74,700 bonus to go with it. He added: “Obviously it’s on everyone’s minds – all the players know what’s up for grabs so if you get the first treble and then miss, you are gutted. But hopefully we can come back next year and somebody can hit a nine-darter.”

EXPRESS SPORT ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page

It comes as Littler was faced with a completely different atmosphere when compared to the World Championships earlier this month. While the crowd were incredibly fiery at times at Alexandra Palace, it was a more reserved affair in Riyadh – no fancy dress, no jeers and silence from the crowd for the most part, barring the occasional cheer for a 180.

Ultimately, the atmosphere left a number of players involved with contrasting impressions. Price, for example, said of the crowd: “They were watching and engaged in the darts. A couple of times when I walked back after my visit, I just looked out into the crowd and they were all fully focused, watching and engaged in the darts.”

However, Nathan Aspinall was less than impressed by a lack of activity from spectators. He said: “There is definitely a long way to go. It’s certainly different. I am not stupid, I feel like they were not all there of their own accord, shall we say. It was quite a small venue, but you’ve got to start somewhere.

“Everything needs to start somewhere, and as long as people walk away from this week and say, ‘we really enjoyed the darts’ and the Saudi Arabian press really enjoy the darts, there is no reason why not. I’ve enjoyed my time out here so far, there is worse places to be. I could be sat in Glossop in the snow, so hopefully we can be back again.”

However, Aspinall seemingly U-turned on his previous comments during Tuesday’s play, explaining after his 6-4 win over Man Lok Leung: “That crowd there were really good. They got involved at the end there, and I think that every game that comes on stage, they’re learning. That was fun and can’t wait to get back up there.”