Luke Littler shows his true colours with message to beaten opponent after Grand Slam win
Luke Littler breezed past Martin Lukeman to add the Grand Slam of Darts trophy to his incredible collection from 2024, but the 17-year-old still had a message for his opponent
Luke Littler sent a classy message to Martin Lukeman after breezing past him to win the Grand Slam of Darts.
Littler thrashed Lukeman 16-3 to lift the trophy in Wolverhampton and pick up a £150,000 winners’ cheque on Sunday night. It was an utterly dominant performance from the 17-year-old, who needed just 35 minutes to see off his opponent.
Lukeman took a surprise 2-0 lead after breaking Littler’s throw, but the youngster hit back in incredible style by reeling off 15 straight legs. He averaged 107.08 over the match to add the Grand Slam to his Premier League and World Series of Darts Finals trophies from 2024.
World No.45 Lukeman was playing in his first televised final and took the defeat with good grace. “Well played @LukeTheNuke180 mate, you are a legend. An honour to share the stage with you,” he wrote on Twitter. “Really proud of the week overall, thanks to my family, friends and everyone that has messaged. Means the world. More to come.”
Littler soon replied: “Top man @SmashLukeman180, been class this week should be proud and all the best to you and your family.”
Littler has moved from No.164 in the PDC world rankings to No.5 in a year and has now collected £1million in prize money in just 11 months. “I’m so glad to win this title,” he said. “I’ve been playing really well all tournament; it’s been a tough week, but the hard work has paid off!
“I’ve always got to have my scoring power with me, no matter who I play. I had a slow start against Martin, but I kicked on from there. I knew coming into the tournament, if I did get my hands on the trophy I’d be up to number five in the world.
“There’s still more ranking tournaments to go this year, so hopefully I can go a bit higher than number five! I cannot wait to play in both events. Hopefully I can have a deep run in Minehead, and then it’s all eyes on the big one: the World Championship!"
Lukeman has qualified for next year’s Grand Slam of Darts by reaching the final. The 39-year-old beat Peter Wright, Rob Cross and Leonard Gates in the group stage, before seeing off Ross Smith and Cross to make the final against Littler.
He said: “Luke is just different gravy. He is absolutely brilliant. He has done great things for the sport and has brought in so many new fans. I wish Luke and his family all the best. He’s a great kid and I couldn’t live with him tonight.”
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