LUKE Littler got what he came to Sheffield for as he ensured he would finish his maiden PDC Premier League Darts season as the league phase winner.

Needing only a quarter-final win to secure top spot, the Warringtonian saw off a belligerent Peter Wright 6-4 to ensure he could not be caught.

He looked on course for a seventh nightly final when he went 4-1 up against Michael Smith in his semi-final, but the St Helens man stormed back to claim the match on a deciding leg.

Littler and Smith will meet again over the longer, best-of-19 format at next week’s Finals Night at London’s O2 Arena, with the winner facing either Luke Humphries or Michael Van Gerwen to decide the overall winner.

Smith proves to be Littler’s Kryptonite again

Not many players can claim to have the Indian sign over the 17-year-old sensation since he burst onto the scene, but Smith is certainly one of them.

His comeback 6-5 victory in Sheffield was the fifth time he had bested the former Padgate Academy pupil in their seven Premier League meetings, giving him reason to feel confident ahead of their play-off meeting last week.

With both men having got what they came for in the quarters – Smith won a straight shoot-out with Nathan Aspinall for the final play-off spot – there was a relaxed nature about the semi-final contest.

Littler looked in devastating form early on, securing two breaks of the Smith throw to move into a 4-1 lead and he looked favourite to extend that lead in the sixth leg.

However, a stunning 156 checkout from Smith changed the momentum and he followed that up by taking out 120 in the next leg, with Littler struggling to respond as Smith reeled off four consecutive legs.

The teenager did at least take it to a decider, but Smith had use of having the final leg on his throw to move into the final.

Littler sees off plucky Wright to seal top spot

If Littler’s record of picking up points in all but three of the 15 nights before this evening was remarkable, Wright’s run of just two matches won in the whole series was anything but.

As such, the teenager was the heavy favourite to pick up the two points he needed to ensure second-placed Luke Humphries could not catch him even if he managed to make it two nightly wins in a row.

However, Wright proved tough to shake off in what was a solid if unspectacular showing from Littler until an outrageous “tops-tops-tops” checkout of 120 to break throw that proved to be decisive.