Littler fights back from 5-0 down to stun Price

Luke Littler produced an astonishing comeback from 5-0 down to stun Gerwyn Price 6-5 and win week seven of Premier League Darts in Dublin.

Price, who won in Dublin last year, was dominant as he raced into the lead, but he missed chance after chance to kill off the game as the world champion came roaring back.

As the Welshman missed five darts for the match, Littler reeled off six legs on the spin for his second weekly victory of the season.

The 19-year-old cut the gap to league leader Jonny Clayton down to just three points after a thrilling night of Premier League action with some eye-catching performances.

Littler had earlier beaten Michael van Gerwen in another 6-5 thriller that contained two maximum 170 finishes, while Price had been clinical when whitewashing winless Josh Rock 6-0 and then thumping defending Premier League champion Luke Humphries 6-1.

Littler himself summed up the final when he told Sky Sports after the match: “I have no idea how I’ve done that.”

In his own words, he was “gone” with Price 5-0 up and allowing Littler to have just one double attempt, in the opening leg, such was his scoring dominance.

Littler did avoid the whitewash, with an ironic celebration showing he felt it was nothing more than a consolation. But Price then missed three match darts in the next leg, which seemed to destroy his confidence.

And while Littler was freewheeling with nothing to lose, the 41-year-old tightened up with two more missed match darts as the impossible turned to the improbable, and eventually the inevitable, as Littler pinched a memorable success.

“It was very strange,” he admitted. “The first leg was a bit of fun, got my 180 and then waved them goodbye because when Gerwyn Price is on double tops he doesn’t usually miss.

“I was so gone. I might as well as have been off stage, but this is darts, things happen. Darts is a silly old game.”

It was a pedestrian start to Littler’s semi-final with Van Gerwen, with the Dutchman taking time to warm up having received a bye due to Gian van Veen having to pull out with kidney stones.

But Van Gerwen lit the blue touch paper by winning legs in 12 and 11 darts to lead 4-3, and that sparked some sheer darting chaos as the two traded some electric arrows – and two maximum finishes.

Littler is renowned for hitting the ‘Big Fish’ but he missed his first try at the maximum 170 checkout in the match.

Amazingly Van Gerwen was also sat on 170 in the same leg and duly hit the two treble 20s and the bull to show his rival how it was done – and move one leg from victory in the process.

Littler was not to be outdone, though, and duly nailed a 170 finish of his own as he fought back to force a final-leg decider, following two missed match darts by the three-time world champion.

And when Van Gerwen missed another match darts, the Warrington-born teenager jumped in to pinch victory in one of the matches of the tournament so far.

If that was a match to remember, it was a night to forget for Josh Rock as he remained without a win in his Premier League debut season – with this seventh loss his most embarrassing.

The Northern Irishman was jeered on every throw by the Dublin crowd as he suffered a 6-0 humbling at the hands of a ruthless Price.

Thursday, 19 March – 3Arena, Dublin

Quarter-finals

Gian van Veen v Michael van Gerwen – Van Gerwen gets a bye

Stephen Bunting 3-6 Luke Littler

Josh Rock 0-6 Gerwyn Price

Jonny Clayton 3-6 Luke Humphries

Semi-finals

Van Gerwen 5-6 Littler

Price 6-1 Humphries

Final

Thursday, 26 March – Uber Arena, Berlin

Based on league table after night seven

Quarter-finals

Jonny Clayton v Josh Rock

Luke Humphries v Michael van Gerwen

Luke Littler v Stephen Bunting

Gerwyn Price v Gian van Veen

Semi-finals

Clayton/Rock v Humphries/Van Gerwen

Littler/Bunting v Price/Van Veen

Final

Premier League Darts is played across 16 initial weeks in the league stage with quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final each night.

Each of the eight players is guaranteed to face the other seven in the quarter-finals in weeks one to seven and 9-15, with week eight and week 16 fixtures done off the table. It means we will get fourth v fifth in Sheffield on the final league-stage night, with the play-off spots potentially on the line.

Players earn two points per quarter-final win, an additional point if they win their semi-final and five for winning the night.

The top four players after the group stage progress to the play-off night at London’s O2 Arena on 23 May, with first facing fourth and second against third in a best-of-19-leg match. The final, which is the best of 21 legs, follows.