Jonny

Luke Littler overcame a chorus of boos in Liverpool to strengthen his grip on a Premier League play-off place with an impressive 6-1 win over Jonny Clayton.

Manchester United fan Littler, 19, was booed throughout the night on Merseyside, but he kept his cool to claim his fourth nightly win in week 12.

The world champion saw off Luke Humphries 6-2 in the quarter-finals, but was pushed to the limit by Michael van Gerwen in the last four.

With the top four in the Premier League table going through to the finals night, Clayton leads the way overall, three points clear of second-placed Littler, who is 15 ahead of Gian van Veen in fifth.

Clayton and Littler are clear of the rest with four league-phase nights to go before finals night at London’s O2 Arena on 28 May.

When comparing his reception in Rotterdam last Thursday to the one he got in Liverpool, Littler said: “Rotterdam was way louder than this tonight.

“There was a little bit [of booing] but this week was nothing compared to last week.

“I’ve just got to forget about it. I was definitely focused and wanted to win tonight, and that’s what I’ve done.”

Littler has finished top of the table in the previous two years and is determined to do so again, saying: “I’m very close to Jonny now and I’m going to go chasing.

“I want to finish top once again and if it’s not to be then it’s not to be, but there are still four weeks left to play for.”

Littler, who was booed in Rotterdam last week following his exchange with Dutch number one Gian van Veen in Manchester three weeks ago, showed his resilience to secure another five points.

He quickly raced into a 4-0 lead over Clayton in the final after capitalising on missed doubles from the 2021 Premier League champion.

While Clayton was only able to land one out of his six double attempts, Littler averaged more than 104 and had a 60% checkout rate to secure victory.

Clayton was a significant outsider with bookmakers to win this year’s tournament. He wasn’t even fancied to make finals night.

Given his record, it was something that clearly rankled with the former plasterer.

Speaking at the Premier League media launch in early February, Clayton said: “It motivates me alright because people don’t rate me, obviously they rate the others more. Let’s see on finals night.”

A 6-4 victory against Luke Littler in the Rotterdam final last time out earned Clayton back-to-back night wins for the first time this season.

He now holds a 16-point buffer over defending champion Luke Humphries who is fifth going into night 12 in Liverpool on Thursday.

“He has sewn up a place at the O2 in London,” Sky Sports pundit Wayne Mardle said of Clayton after his triumph in Rotterdam.

“Jonny Clayton will be there, that is certain. He is so far clear of the rest.”

A week earlier, Clayton produced a remarkable comeback to win 6-5 against seven-time champion Michael van Gerwen in Brighton having been 5-2 down in the final.

After his victory against reigning world champion Littler in Rotterdam, Clayton revealed he re-watched his win against van Gerwen from a week earlier.

“I don’t watch many games back, but I watched last week’s game against Michael and it hurt a little bit when somebody said I was favourite to finish bottom. That really hurt,” he said.

“That really annoyed me to be honest. It’s going well for myself and I’ve got a massive smile on my face.

“I’ve been here three times before and I’ve done finals night on each one.”

At 51 Clayton is comfortably the oldest player in this year’s field, although he is consistently proving to be a thorn in the side of the game’s younger talents.

And with the £350,000 Premier League winner’s prize still well within his sights, Clayton can have no doubts that his long-delayed full-time move into darts was entirely justified. And then some.

Jonny Clayton came from 5-2 down to beat Michael van Gerwen 6-5 and claim his third nightly win to move top of the Premier League.

Van Gerwen missed four match darts in total as the Welshman reeled off four straight legs to take the win in Brighton.

Victory takes Clayton, who began the evening in third, three points above Luke Littler after the world champion was beaten by Stephen Bunting in the quarter-finals and failed to add to his points tally.

While Van Gerwen had the edge both in terms of average and checkout percentage in the final, Clayton produced when it mattered as he made the seven-time champion pay for failing to wrap up the match at 5-2 and 5-4 and forced a decider.

Clayton then finished it in style, hitting two 180s in the leg before sealing it on double 16.

“I thought the game was over at 5-2 up for Michael,” Clayton told Sky Sports.

“He missed, he gave me a chance. You’ve got to take chances. That last leg was probably my best of the game.

“I’m back on top of the table, Luke Littler can start chasing me again.”

Despite falling just short of a first nightly win since the opening week in Newcastle, Van Gerwen’s run to the final helped him shore up his play-off place and open up a four-point gap to fellow Dutchman Gian van Veen in fifth.