Luke Littler plays the showman at the Grand Slam of Darts as he misses out on record-breaking 9-darter by millimetres

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LUKE LITTLER maintained his 100 per cent Grand Slam of Darts record.

But he missed out on a history-making nine-darter.

a man wearing a target shirt stands in front of a scoreboard

Luke Littler came within a whisker of nailing a nine-darter at the Grand Slam of Darts[/caption]

a crowd of people watching a game with a scoreboard that says first to 5

He toyed with the crowd as he had fun in Wolverhampton[/caption]

The Nuke topped Group F with a 5-3 win over Filipino Lourence Ilagan at a packed house in Wolverhampton.

Littler, 17, averaged 102.05 to secure his third ton-plus average from the group stages.

He had raced into a rapid 2-0 lead but was pegged back as Ilagan levelled it up.

However, Littler got back on track then he took out a brilliant 130 with a Bull finish to seal an emphatic 12-dart leg for 4-2 then orchestrated the crowd with his darts.

At 4-2, he deliberately left 170 for the Big Fish – but was left with a wry smile when his opponent nailed a brilliant 148 checkout.

The tournament favourite could have sealed victory with a perfect leg but missed double 12 in leg eight before eventually stumbling over the line in the same leg after Ilagan missed tops.

In the end, Littler managed to get one over Asia’s No1 star as he marched into the last 16 of this TV darts major where he will face either Michael Smith or Mike De Decker.

Since January, the Warrington teen has celebrated four nine-darters and getting one more before the end of the year would be a record.

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Luke Littler was THIS close to a nine-darter pic.twitter.com/rlbuNv2rxe

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Littler, 17, said: “I was relaxed. I knew I had qualified.

“The important thing was to win and go three out of three in the group.

“I felt dead relaxed and enjoyed that.

“I know if I do hit another one then it’s a record.

“I know if I play well, I can feel it coming. It didn’t go then – I’ll try again next time.”

Littler added: “I did quite a lot with the crowd because I knew I was through but in the next round I’ll need to focus on the game. I’ll always get the crowd involved.

“I just thought to myself, ‘Let’s have some fun.’

In Group G, Gary Anderson thumped 5–2 transgender player Noa-Lynn van Leuven, who lost all three games.

But Michael van Gerwen was dumped out following a shock 5-4 defeat to Ryan Joyce.

a man wearing a shirt that says boohooman on it

Littler was in a relaxed mood at the oche[/caption]

a man in a blue and yellow shirt with the word trust on it

He averaged 102.05 against Lourence Ilagan[/caption]

a man in a blue and yellow shirt holds up a dart

The Nuke applauded the crowd as he made it three wins from three[/caption]

Inside Littler's massive rise

LUKE LITTLER has taken the darts world by storm since exploding onto the scene at the PDC World Championship at the beginning of the year.

The Nuke reached the final on his Ally Pally debut at just 16 years of age – smashing records along the way.

He has then gone on to win a host of PDC events and the Premier League title – which he claimed at the O2 Arena by beating world champion Luke Humphries in May.

He also finished his first season in the World Series as the No1 ranked player.

He has joined Jude Bellingham on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list.

And the teenage titan even had to snub an invite from the WWE.

The Sun exclusively revealed that Littler is plotting to create a fitness empire.

He is also cashing in away from the Oche thanks to an Instagram side hustle.

And he’s even the face of a brand new cereal.

But he is newly single after splitting from girlfriend Eloise Milburn following a 10-month relationship.

Check out all of our latest Luke Littler stories.

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