109 average Luke Littler edges 111 average Ryan Searle in Pro Tour classic to take debut Players Championship title
PDCMonday, 12 February 2024 at 20:14
The question beforehand was not whether Luke Littler was going to win a Players Championship title this year, but when. After the first Players Championship tournament of the season, Littler could already give a definitive answer to that question. 'The Nuke' had a dream entrance on the Pro Tour circuit and immediately started the floor season by winning his first ranking title.
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Littler qualified for the final after victories over successively Jim Williams (6-1), Luke Woodhouse (6-3), Michele Turetta (6-1), Cameron Menzies (6-2), James Hurrell (6-3) and Alan Soutar (7-6). Moreover, the Englishman managed to throw a nine-darter in his third round match against Turetta.
In the final, Littler faced his English compatriot Ryan Searle. This final ended up going into the books as one of the best Pro Tour finals ever. Littler recorded an average of 109.64, while Searle even threw 111.74 average.
Thanks to two 13-darters, Littler took a 2-0 lead. The 17-year-old teenage sensation held that break for a long time, until Searle broke back with a 12-darter in the 14th leg. That made it 7-7 and moreover 'Heavy Metal' could start the last leg.
Searle could find only one treble in the first two visits, while Littler was off to a good start with scores of 180 and 125. Searle came back well, but could not prevent Littler from taking the title with a 13-darter.
Littler can put this title to good use because despite his spot in the World Championship final, he was still at zero in the qualifying race for major tournaments such as the World Matchplay and World Grand Prix. With this title, Littler has already bridged more than half the gap on the final spots in the qualifying race.
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Results Players Championship 1
Last 16
Luke Littler (108.99) 6 | 2 (95.31) Cameron Menzies
James Hurrell (93.75) 6 | 3 (89.23) Jamie Hughes
Alan Soutar (92.04) 6 | 1 (91.88) Lee Evans
Nick Kenny (97.62) 6 | 5 (88.62) Mickey Mansell
Ryan Searle (99.10) 6 | 0 (86.83) Mike De Decker
Jose De Sousa (93.28) 6 | 5 (94.08) Nathan Aspinall
Brendan Dolan (86.93) 6 | 4 (81.38) Ricardo Pietreczko
Gian van Veen (92.87) 6 | 5 (89.17) Kim Huybrechts
Quarterfinals
Luke Littler (100.65) 6 | 3 (91.52) James Hurrell
Alan Soutar (93.95) 6 | 5 (90.40) Nick Kenny
Ryan Searle (93.10) 6 | 2 (93.38) Jose De Sousa
Gian van Veen (97.20) 6 | 5 (95.62) Brendan Dolan
Semi-final
Luke Littler (89.70) 7 | 6 (88.85) Alan Soutar
Ryan Searle (92.00) 7 | 3 (81.57) Gian van Veen
Final
Luke Littler (109.64) 8 | 7 (111.71) Ryan Searle
Kieran WoodDarts Journalist
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He contributes to DartsNews.com, where he covers professional darts through news, match reports, analysis, and live coverage across the PDC calendar and major tournaments.
A key part of his work is on-site reporting from leading events. Kieran has covered the PDC World Darts Championship in person, reporting daily from the venue and providing first-hand insight from the tournament. During his coverage, he has conducted interviews with leading players including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price.
He is also one of the leading voices of the English-language Dartsnews Podcast, contributing regular analysis and discussion on developments across the professional darts circuit.
In his reporting, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles when new, verified information becomes available.
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- I loved Jan and loved his walk on music "Explode" by Jordan & Baker. I think if he stuck around the BDO he definitely would have been World Champion, should have won in 2014, he never really showed any of his talent in the PDC. I remembered he worked in a bank or in finance and maybe that was his priority, he was also a fan and interested in magic. Definitely should have achieved much more in darts than he did. Wherever you are nowadays Jan, hope all is well and I was always a fan.richieburnettrocks11-09-2026
- Not much of a tournament really,is it? Now they've all pulled out,it's open for everyone. I'm sure if you bought tickets,you'd be disappointed. Doesn't that seem to bother the withdrawals? Not at all!!rick6710-09-2026
- Need to see her take part in the womens tour. She'll break the inernet.medinabello08-09-2026
- If he can be bothered? He won't play darts in Germany yet he'll go over and get an award!??rick6702-09-2026
- Why is this the main story? He chose not to compete in loads of tournaments,yes he's number 1 in the world,but he does have to turn up at tournaments! Play the next world championship in Dortmund and see if he turns up!!rick6727-08-2026
- This is exactly what I mean,littler survives the 1st round,I think you'll find a lot of other players did. Can you just report on the real sport,and not just 1 person. I like Luke,but this is getting boring now,as Kevin painter once said to Taylor!! The sport is about every player,not 1 who everyone seems to have put the sport on the map.,which he hasn't,he's just got in when the money is massive. Great as he is,it seems like what's the point in anyone trying,he's going to win everything,unless it's in Germany or Australia!!!rick6726-08-2026
- I mean look, Littler's picture is first,wattimena is second and he won! Level it up. I know littler is fantastic,but the sport was here before him,and will be when he's retired. Any player in the top 64/128 can beat each other,it's not big news. Poor Jermaine,wins it,and not even the headline!!rick6726-08-2026
- I appreciate that littler is a fantastic player,but the top 3 articles are about him. Before he'd thrown a dart in the tournament. Level it out a bit, Taylor and van gerwen soon got disliked as the media could only see them,and nobody else seemed to matterrick6725-08-2026
- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
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