Luke Littler flexes World Grand Prix muscles to set up final with familiar foe

Luke Littler is into the World Grand Prix final after a stunning display against Johnny Clayton to set up a mouth-watering final against familiar foe Luke Humphries

Luke Littler’s slight hiccup against Gerwyn Price was quickly forgotten as he dismantled Johnny Clayton to set up a final with Luke Humphries at the World Grand Prix.

After a few exhibition-style displays in Leicester, Littler hit a bump in the road when he faced the Iceman. The reigning World Champion was forced to dig deep, landing some clutch checkouts to edge his way into Sunday’s semi-finals.

But when the young sensation met Clayton, the gulf in class became immediately apparent. The Runcorn-born sensation came flying out of the blocks and never took his foot off the pedal, delivering a relentless barrage that left Clayton struggling to keep pace.

“Jonny will never, ever give up, but he has gone a little flat here,” Wayne Mardle said on Sky Sports as the relentless Littler onslaught continued to punish him.

“He is not throwing well right now. He’s looking a little disjointed. The rhythm has gone a bit.”

Any lingering hope Clayton had was beaten out after an obscene 140 finish from the Nuke. “That is incredible. That is ridiculous,” Mardle said. “They are disgusting darts if you’re Jonny Clayton!”

Littler cruised to a commanding 5–1 victory over the Ferret, setting up a mouthwatering final against a familiar foe in Humphries.

Cool Hand had looked close to his best earlier in the week but seemed to fade slightly against Danny Noppert, eventually limping over the line to reach his third consecutive Grand Prix final.

“Absolutely brutal from Littler, Johnny played well tbf but nothing he could do there, scary thing is Littler didn’t even hit top gear,” one fan admitted on social media.

“Littler has brought a lot of new people to darts but we might soon reach a stage when he starts driving people away from the sport,” a second questioned. As a third posted: “Gonna be some final!”

And another added: “When Littler is at it there’s no one better. Brilliant tonight!”