Luke Littler was drenched by beaten finalist Mike De Decker after their Belgian Darts Open showdown on Sunday evening. Fans in Wieze could hardly have hoped for a better final match-up, with home favourite and reigning World Grand Prix champion De Decker pitted against world champion and teenage prodigy Littler.
With nine straight wins leading up to the tournament, including a nightly victory at Premier League Darts in Brighton and an overall triumph at the UK Open last weekend, Littler was widely expected to enjoy another deep run in Belgium. The 18-year-old added five more match wins to his streak, making light work of James Wade in the semi-finals before toppling De Decker 8-5 in the final.
If Littler’s run was seen as inevitable, De Decker’s was the complete opposite. The 29-year-old was in torrid form going into the tournament, but he turned it on in front of his home fans with big wins against Luke Humphries, Gerwyn Price and Ross Smith before coming unstuck against ‘The Nuke’.
In the final, Littler’s 102.87 average put him miles ahead of De Decker on 92.25. And the Belgian could not find the doubling to make up for it, leaving Littler with a £30,000 prize pot and landing him yet another title.
Though De Decker spurned what would have been an emotional win in front of his fellow Belgians, there was no animosity between himself and Littler after the youngster nailed tops to take the match.
Instead, the pair celebrated together, with De Decker pouring his water bottle over Littler’s head as a playful act of sportsmanship. A dripping Littler said in his post-match interview: “I’m very happy to retain my title in front of these great fans. I said last year there should be a Premier League night here, and there should be!”
The Warrington thrower has now won 14 matches on the spin and it will be hard to look past him when Premier League stars reconvene in Nottingham on Thursday. Littler is second in the table, two points behind Humphries, although the top four will all go through to the play-offs at the end of May.
Littler has only been a tour regular for just over a year, but he is showing some of his best darts yet. “Coming off the back of the UK Open, I was playing really well,” he said last week. “I’ve always been confident in my own ability but the way my darts are going in at the minute, it’s probably the best I’ve ever played on a consistent basis.”
