LUKE Littler missed out on winning three Premier League nights in a row in a dramatic night in Birmingham tonight, Thursday.
The former Padgate Academy student had won the previous two nights in Belfast and Manchester.
However his dreams of three in a row were ended by Michael Van Gerwen.
It was a match of strangely below-par quality with Littler breaking for 2-1 and 3-2 leads as both players showed huge inconsistency and struggled to average even 90.
However the Dutchman took the next four to win it 6-3 as he upped his level.
It was a dramatic night for Littler.
He started with a patchy clash with former world champion Rob Cross in the quarter final where he had to recover from 3-1 down.
However he won the decider to edge through 6-5.
His semi-final on the other hand was spectacular with another 6-5 victory.
In a repeat of the world championship final in January, he beat Luke Humphries in a topsy-turvy encounter.
He scored five 180s, hit an average of 107.23 and hit 46.2 per cent of his doubles.
The win was secured with a break of throw for Littler with a double 14 after Humphries had roared back from 5-2 down to force a decider.
The Premier League rolls into Holland next Thursday night, April 18, with the event being held in the Ahoy arena in Rotterdam. Littler takes on Michael Smith in the quarter final there.
Littler still tops the table with 26 points. Humphries, Van Gerwen and Nathan Aspinall round out the top four in the hunt for the play-offs at the end of the season.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here