‘Nice he can play at my level’ – Fans stunned as Luke Littler makes rare blunder in semi-final defeat to Nathan Aspinall

9 months ago 64

LUKE LITTLER went bust in comical scenes at the Premier League Darts.

The Nuke, 17, powered past Michael van Gerwen 6-2 in emphatic fashion in the quarter-finals.

Luke Littler managed to go bust after hitting the 20 when needing five[/caption]

But he then came unstuck against close pal Nathan Aspinall 6-3 in the semis.

And there was a simply extraordinary leg during the defeat.

Trailing 5-2, Littler needed to take the leg and hope he could mount a memorable comeback.

He was down to needing just five to force the match to a ninth leg but as he went for the one, he ended up accidentally hitting the 20 instead and busting on his first dart.

The mishap left the youngster fuming as he snatched his dart out of the board in what commentators called a “rare” sign of frustration.

It meant he could not use his other two throws on that visit to the oche, presenting his opponent with a golden opportunity to wrap up the win.

But then Aspinall himself missed a series of match darts before Littler eventually checked out.

That forced The Asp to throw for the match, which he went on to do.

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But viewers still couldn’t believe what they had seen.

One fan said: “Littler busting on 5 by hitting a big 20. Nice to see he can play at my level.”

The gaffe was made all the more remarkable as it came after the brutal destruction of MVG.

That included being one dart away from finishing it off with a nine-darter – narrowly missing the double 12 for what would have been a blockbuster finale.

One bemused fan wrote on X: “How can you play against MGV like he did, then play like a pub player?”

But Littler did receive even more adoration for his brilliant prep for the Aspinall showdown.

The Warrington wonderkid was caught on camera singing along to Aspinall’s walk-on tune Mr Brightside.

And Littler could not help himself joining in with the Nottingham crowd.

Aspinall went on to lose the final to world No1 and world champ Luke Humphries.