Incredible Luke Littler crowned 2024 Grand Slam of Darts champion, winning 15(!) straight legs against helpless Martin Lukeman

The incredible Luke Littler has been crowned the 2024 Grand Slam of Darts champion! In an epic display of darting dynamism, the teenage sensation has romped to a comprehensive 16-3 victory over Martin Lukeman in Wolverhampton this Sunday night.

En route to the final, Lukeman convincingly won his group by defeating Peter Wright (5-0), Rob Cross (5-3) and Leonard Gates (5-3). The Englishman then triumphed 10-5 against Ross Smith, after which Cross again had to bow to his compatriot. In his semifinal against Mickey Mansell, 'Smash' fell behind early in the match. However, this deficit was more than made up and with a 16-12 victory he qualified for the final.

Littler meanwhile, had a formidable start to his tournament in Wolverhampton on Saturday by beating Keane Barry 5-0 thanks to an average of 112. This was followed by a 5-1 victory over Dimitri van den Bergh with an average of 106.98. In an attractive duel, he was then also too strong for Lourence Ilagan (5-3) with 102.05. Littler escaped elimination. The Belgian was the better player, leading both 8-4 and 9-7, but Littler came back and took the win 10-9. In the quarterfinals, Littler came up with an absolute masterclass against Jermaine Wattimena. In the semi-final match against Gary Anderson, the skills of 'The Nuke' were again put to the test before he prevailed in a decider.

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Lukeman won the bull in the backroom, giving himself the advantage of throw. There were little signs of nerves from him either as he convincingly held in the opener. After Littler missed a handful at double in leg 2, 'Smash' broke the Premier League Darts champion's throw to move 2-0 up. Despite a few more misses from the teen in leg 3, he eventually pinned double 3 for an immediate break back with a 13-darter. A stunning 124 then levelled the contest. Thanks in part to a fifth 180 in five legs, Littler then took a third leg on the spin to nudge 3-2 infront at the end of the first session.

The momentum continued to be with Littler after the break as he pinned tops for a fourth straight leg. A third break of throw then made it 5-2 Littler. Again Littler's doubling was a little lax in the next leg, but again, his scoring prowess granted him plenty of time to mop up. As Littler took the final two legs of the session with ease, raising his average to 110.78, the teenage sensation reached the halfway mark with his 8th straight leg for an 8-2 lead.

A ruthless 100 checkout continued Littler's march towards victory after the break. A few moments later it was ten legs on the spin for 'The Nuke', followed by a 10-darter to break throw yet again and make it 11-2. Despite Lukeman continuing to plug away he was being completely outplayed and as Littler pinned double 15 for 12-2, it meant 'Smash' had had just one dart at double in 12 legs of darts. In the final leg of the third session, Littler again was ruthless, heading off stage 13-2 clear.

After the break, Lukeman had a rare dart at double, but dropped low on the bull for a 124. As expected, Littler showed no mercy to make it it 14-2. Another dart at couple came in the next leg too but Lukeman went wide on double 16 this time, with Littler moving one leg from the title. Finally in leg 18, Lukeman stopped the rot with a 65 checkout, making the most of it in his celebration too as the crowd gave him plaudits. Sadly, it wasn't the start of the most incredible comeback as Littler sealed victory next leg.

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