Luke Littler has banked £315,000 in prize money from his debut Premier League Darts campaign after he was crowned champion with a 11-7 win over Luke Humphries at the O2 Arena.
The 17-year-old came into his semi-final against Michael Smith having already claimed £40,000 from his four nightly wins. Littler came out on top in Manchester, Liverpool, Belfast and Aberdeen and finished top of the pile after 16 weeks.
After dispatching Smith 10-5 in the last four, Littler then went up against Humphries, who progressed past Michael van Gerwen 10-5 in his semi-final, for the right to become the Premier League champion. It proved, as expected, to be a thrilling final but - unlike at the World Championship - Litter came out on top.
That saw him bank £215,000, having already won £40,000 for coming out on top of four separate evenings. The teenager has now earned over £600,000 since bursting on to the scene less than six months ago at the World Championship back in December.
Littler qualified for finals night in London after winning the regular season, collecting 40 points from the 16 weeks. Humphries (36), Michael van Gerwen (29) and Michael Smith (29) made up the top-four with Nathan Aspinall (25) missing out alongside Rob Cross (17), Gerwyn Price (12) and Peter Wright (4).
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As Littler finished first, he went up against fourth-place Smith in the opening semi-final in a best of 19 match. The teenage sensation flew out of the blocks and took four of the first five legs, almost taking out a nine-darter in the fourth leg as he managed seven perfect darts before missing treble 19.
After Smith took the sixth leg, Littler then won the next three to storm into a 7-2 lead. 'Bully Boy' mounted a slight comeback to give himself a slight bit of hope but Littler ended up winning 10-5 after taking out 65 to set up a blockbuster final against either Humphries or Van Gerwen.
Luke Littler with the trophy after beating Luke HumphriesIn the second semi-final, Van Gerwen began on the front foot and got the first break of the match in the third leg, taking out 103 and the leg in 15 darts. However, that is as good as it got for the Dutchman as Humphries found his stride and won six successive legs to burst into a commanding lead at the break.
Although Van Gerwen responded to win three legs in four to put himself back in a fighting position, Humphries regained his composure to run out with a 10-5 victory.
The final started tight as both players cancelled each other out, with Littler and Humphries drawing 5-5 after the first ten legs with one break apiece. However, after the break, Littler then turned on the style to hit a remarkable nine-darter - his first ever in the Premier League - before breaking Humphries to go 7-5 up.
Littler was in full control from that point on, and although Humphries tried to come back into it, the teen won the final two legs to run out with an 11-7 victory.
Humphries picks up £125,000 from losing in the final and an additional £40,000 from winning four nights across the campaign.
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