Luke Littler beat Luke Humphries 6-5 in the final of Premier League night 13 in Leeds to claim a third successive night win and a record-equalling sixth victory of the season. The 19-year-old set the record last year and now has two more nights in the league phase to break it.
The win in Leeds backed up victories in Liverpool and Aberdeen in the past two weeks and has seen him open up a five-point advantage at the top of the standings. The 2024 champion, who is guaranteed a place in the play-offs at London's O2 Arena on 28 May, beat Michael van Gerwen 6-5 in the quarter-finals, before edging past Jonny Clayton in another last-leg decider in the semis. He won by the same scoreline in the final - for the second successive week against defending champion Humphries.
The final was a sublime game with both players averaging in excess of 100 and more than 45% on the checkouts. Littler missed darts to break in the fifth leg, and Humphries had the opportunity to break and seal victory in leg 10. But Littler raised his level in the decider to take the win and deny Humphries a third straight success in Leeds.
"I've just got to keep going - I can go and beat my own record," Littler told Sky Sports. "Even the win against Jonny [Clayton, in the semi-finals], I knew I was a few points clear. I'm in the clear now and I've just got to keep top spot."
Despite a second successive final defeat by Littler, this was a positive night for Humphries. He started the night in sixth spot and before his run to last week's final he was five points off fourth. The world number two now occupies that final qualifying berth after his runner-up finish and quarter-final defeats for Gerwyn Price and Van Gerwen. Third-placed Price is three points clear of Van Gerwen in fifth, but intriguingly the pair meet in Birmingham next Thursday.
