Luke Littler once had to ask a referee to open his water bottle before a Premier League Darts clash.
‘The Nuke’ made personal history in his latest outing in the competition, shattering his own points record with victory on the final night of the campaign in Sheffield.
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Littler stormed to a record-extending sixth nightly win with victory over Luke Humphries in the final, bringing up his points tally to 45 for the season to set a new all-time best.
He himself held the record of 40 from his debut Premier League appearance last year, where he cruised to glory, aged just 17.
Littler’s latest triumph sees him head into next week’s play-offs full of confidence, as he bids to pick up more silverware after his sensational maiden campaign.
And while the 18-year-old will have plenty of fond memories from his 2024 success, there is one moment he may be keen to forget.
Despite many flawless displays at the oche, the same couldn’t be said of Littler away from it when he faced Rob Cross in the final of Night 13 of the competition in Liverpool.
After emerging from the tunnel to his walkout song, Greenlight by Pitbull, the teenager then headed over for a swig of his water.
But Littler was soon left red-faced, as he was unable to unscrew the bottle cap, and danced over to a marker to ask for their help.
The official duly screwed the top off the for the young star, but the comedy didn’t end there, with Sky Sports capturing the mishap live on air and offering viewers a slow motion replay of it.
Legendary commentator Wayne Mardle was quick to make light of the amusing scene, laughing as he said: “We know he’s 17 and many people call him still a child.
“Well, he’s had to have the bottle undone by Scott Gibley who’s one of the markers.
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He then joked about Littler’s opponent Cross: “Rob was alright!”
Despite his early struggles, Littler had no such problems at the oche, even after his night began with a hostile reception the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool.
The avid Manchester United fan was met by boos from the rival Merseyside crowd as he walked out for each encounter.
However, he had the perfect response to this, making a 2-0 gesture, mocking the Reds’ recent derby defeat to Everton that April.
And the teenage sensation then silenced the crowd further, as he stormed to a 6-3 win over Gerwyn Price in the quarter-finals, before overcoming Nathan Aspinall 6-5 in the last four.
Littler then rounded off a perfect night by beating Cross 6-2 in the final, sealing his third win of the season to keep him top of the Premier League table.
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It was a certainly a memorable night for the young Englishman, whose campaign only got better after that.
After finishing the regular season at the league summit, Littler then overcame Michael Smith in the play-off semi-finals at the 02 Arena.
He followed this up with a stunning 11-7 win over world number one Humphries in the final, pocketing £275,000 in prize money for the second biggest tournament in darts.
Littler will now be looking to take inspiration from his previous Premier League heroics as he prepares to get his upcoming play-off campaign underway against Welshman Gerwyn Price on May 29.
