"Usually I get on to them, but tonight I just felt like I needed to win": No time for fan jibes from Luke Littler, all business at Premier League Darts in Cardiff

It was a night when everything clicked for Luke Littler. In a roaring arena in Cardiff – where the crowd largely backed the Welsh favorites – the young darts phenomenon kept his cool, survived several tricky moments, and ultimately crowned himself winner of Night Five in the Premier League Darts.

For Littler, it was not only his first nightly title of the season, but also a significant leap up the table and a clear signal to the competition that the reigning world champion is still one of the men to beat.

Littler’s evening opened with a gritty quarterfinal against Josh Rock. Although the Englishman eventually stepped off stage as the winner, he was strikingly candid about his own display afterwards.

“I felt like it was a great game, but then I came back and checked the stats and Josh actually played a lot better than me,” Littler said. “But they’re the games you like to win — where you’ve not played the best but you’ve got the win.”

Wins like that are often crucial in a competition format like the Premier League, where every night counts and momentum plays a major role. For Littler, getting through that opening hurdle was exactly what he aims to do each week.

“That’s all I wanted to do. I say it every week — just win that first game and get two points on the board,” he explained. “I’ve said it for the past two years. It’s been a fair few weeks since I’ve won a quarter-final game, but to go on and win the whole night means a lot.”

Before his semi-final, Littler tried to keep his thinking simple.

“I just said to myself, it is what it is — you’ve got two points now, just try and play your best,” he said.

That mindset paid off. In the semi-final he faced one of the evening’s biggest crowd favourites, Gerwyn Price. With the Welsh crowd firmly behind Price, Littler knew he would have to block out the atmosphere.

“I pulled it out from somewhere and got the win over Gezzy and moved on into the final,” he said.

During the match he even mimicked Price’s trademark celebration, something he admitted afterwards he simply couldn’t resist.

“Sometimes you can’t help yourself against Gezzy, can you?” Littler laughed. “But luckily it didn’t backfire and I got the job done.”

In the final, Littler faced another Welsh favourite in Jonny Clayton, meaning the crowd again had a clear favourite.

Despite that, Littler remained composed throughout the contest. "Usually I get on to them, but tonight I just felt like I needed to win,” he said.

The final was a high-quality affair in which Littler even threatened a perfect leg.

“I could have come in on the nine, but I can feel it — I’m close to it now,” he admitted.

His approach to the match was deliberately calm and controlled.

“Like I’ve always said, do the hard work and then in the final just relax,” Littler explained. “I didn’t give too much away, I didn’t give too much to the fans, and yeah, I got the win.”

On his way to the title, Littler also produced two spectacular 170 checkouts — known in darts as the ‘big fish’.

“You don’t usually see two in a night, but for myself to get two was a little bit special,” he said.

He added with a smile that some fans had reminded him of a running joke about not celebrating the finish properly.

“I saw a few people messaging me about not eating the big fish, so hopefully we’ll put that on tonight and win them some money.”

The victory in Cardiff propelled Littler up the standings, jumping from seventh to third in the league in a single night.

“There wasn’t a lot in it leading into tonight,” he said. “But yeah, I knew if I win I’d be in a good position and that’s what I’ve done.”

Interestingly, the opening five weeks of the Premier League have produced five different winners. Littler hopes he can now start building momentum.

“I mean, I hope so — I really do hope so that I can go off into the lead now,” he said. “But it’s the same every week. It’s a new week and you don’t know what to expect.”

In the practice room, the usual darts banter had continued in recent weeks as Littler searched for his first nightly win.

“I don’t think it’s about winning and losing — it’s just the same crack, the same jokes and banter that we always have in the back room,” he said.

He admitted he had been slightly more serious on stage recently.

“On stage I’ve not been bantering around too much because I’ve not been winning. I just wanted to be… every week I come here and say to myself I’d rather go on stage without any practice,” he said. “But yeah, I’ve got to put some hours in and then do my job.”

Now that he has finally secured a nightly victory, he might be able to return some of that banter.

“Yeah, maybe,” he smiled. “We’ll have to see next week.”

After a few weeks where results had not quite matched expectations, Littler believes the Cardiff win sends a message.

“Tonight’s obviously definitely a statement to everyone out there,” he said.

Still, he insists he never felt the pressure others may have assumed.

“I went on last week, saw a few comments and then went straight on the betting and I was still favourite to win the title,” Littler said. “So I just said to myself, fair enough — I’ve just got to pick myself up now and go on to win.”

For Littler, confidence comes back quickly when the wins return.

“When you’re not winning, it’s not a nice feeling. You’ve got to pick yourself back up,” he admitted. “But every week’s a new week.”

Attention now quickly turns to the next big event on the calendar: the UK Open in Minehead.

Littler is a big fan of the tournament’s unpredictable format. “You don’t know what to expect,” he said. “You can play absolutely anyone.”

The draw is random after every round, which means even the sport’s biggest stars can quickly find themselves in tricky situations. “That’s why I love it,” Littler added. “Hopefully we can have a good run.”

There is also a financial milestone within reach if he can add another major title.

“Yeah, definitely there’s motivation,” he admitted. “But like I said, you don’t know what to expect.”