Teenage sensation Luke 'The Nuke' Littler has won the Bahrain Masters for his first senior title and, on the way, made darts history by becoming the youngest player to throw a nine-darter in the world series.
Two days away from his 17th birthday, the Englishman scored the perfect leg in his 6-3 quarter-final victory over fourth-seeded compatriot Nathan Aspinall.
He then went on to beat former world champion Gerwyn Price 7-3 in the semi-final and Dutch world No.2 Michael van Gerwen - a three-time PDC world champion - 8-5 in the final at the Bahrain International Circuit.
The only other player to throw a nine-darter - scoring 501 with the minimum number of darts - in the world series, which started in 2013, was legendary Englishman Phil 'The Power' Taylor.
Littler was playing his first tournament since his run to the final of the PDC World Darts Championship at London's Alexandra Palace made rare headlines and turned him into an unlikely sporting hero.
"No-one probably believes me, but I've not thrown a dart since the world final," he told ITV4 television. "Michael is one of the very best and I'm happy to win on my debut."
World champion Luke Humphries earlier ended a 20-game winning run by losing his quarter-final 6-4 to Price.
Littler's nine-dart sequence was achieved by throwing triple 20s with his first seven darts and then a treble 19 and a double 12. Aspinall then joined in the congratulations. as the crowd erupted.
Reuters
