IT'S a third successive senior final for Luke 'The Nuke' Littler after beating Gerwyn Price in the Dutch Darts Masters.
The Warrington 17-year-old defeated the Welshman 7-4 to set up a 9.30pm final against Michael van Gerwen.
It follows hot on the heels of Littler beating Van Gerwen in the Bahrain Darts Masters final last week on his World Series of Darts debut, and his PDC World Darts Championship Final appearance against Luke Humphries at Alexandra Palace, also on debut.
Littler, who also beat price 7-3 in the semi-finals of his Bahrain success, reached an average 108 and Price 109.6 in a quality contest.
'The Nuke' took a 2-0 lead but had that clawed back in.
It was then tit-for-tat until 5-4 when an incredible 10th leg led to Littler breaking Price's throw.
It was a crazy finale to the leg, despite the great scoring, with Price missing seven arrows at double and The Nuke failing with six throws until sealing it on double one.
Littler was then in charge with the arrows to seal the victory.
Earlier, ‘The Nuke’ reached the semi-finals of the Dutch Darts Masters thanks to a revenge victory over world number one Luke Humphries.
Littler, defeated by Humphries in an epic World Darts Championship Final at Alexandra Palace 25 days ago, edged home 6-5 in a Cheshire derby staged in Den Bosch, The Netherlands.
He averaged 102.33 and hit five 180s in a gritty display that swayed to-and-fro.
Former Padgate Academy student Littler got off to a great start, taking a two-leg lead.
But Humphries, who lives in Frodsham, found his groove to win four successive legs.
Then came a brilliant Littler fightback.
Two 180s at the start of the seventh leg, another in the eighth laid the foundation for ‘The Nuke’ to get it back to 4-4.
After going back in front, Littler missed two darts at double for the match as Humphries levelled matters again at 5-5.
In the decider, Littler left himself 88 and he checked out on the bullseye to clinch his semi-final place.
Littler said: “Happy with the way I played.
“I said earlier I had to put at least 10pts on that 90 average (from last night) and I did.
“I went 2-0 ahead and then I think I fell asleep for the next four legs but then I got back into it and I think I played well with my finishing and scoring. I’m happy.”
TOTO Dutch Darts Masters 2024 final, Saturday, January 27, ITV3:
Luke Littler v Michael van Gerwen or Gian Van Veen, 9.30pm
TOTO Dutch Darts Masters 2024 semi-finals schedule/results, Saturday, January 27, ITV3:
Luke Littler 7 Gerwyn Price 4
Michael van Gerwen 7 Gian Van Veen 4
TOTO Dutch Darts Masters 2024 quarter-finals results, Saturday, January 27, ITV3:
Luke Littler 6 Luke Humphries 4
Gerwyn Price 6 Kevin Doets 3
Michael van Gerwen 6 Raymond van Barneveld 5
Gian van Veen 6 Danny Noppert 3
TOTO Dutch Darts Masters 2024 first round results:
Nathan Aspinall 2 Danny Noppert 6
Peter Wright 2 Kevin Doets 6
Gerwyn Price 6 Dimitri Van den Bergh 3
Michael Smith 3 Gian van Veen 6
Rob Cross 5 Ray van Barneveld 6
Luke Littler 6 Dirk van Duijvenbode 2
Luke Humphries 6 Jermaine Wattimena 0
Michael van Gerwen 6 Vincent van der Voort 1
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