Luke Littler cruised to his maiden UK Open title with an emphatic 11-2 victory over James Wade in the final at Minehead.
The Nuke stormed out of the blocks against World No.11 Wade, winning the first five legs in little over eight minutes.
And one point, the reigning World Champion threatened to whitewash his out-of-sorts opponent as he went 9-0 up thanks to a ton-plus average and consistent trebble hitting.
Wade was able to scrape a couple of legs late in the contest to avoid a whitewash, but the 18-year-old eventually wrapped up the encouter with a double six to claim a 11-2 victory and a £110,000 winners’ cheque.
It marks Littler’s fifth TV title in less than ten months and his first since becoming the youngest-ever world champion at Alexandra Palace in January earlier this year.
‘It’s one I’ve wanted to win. It’s my third time here, I came here two years ago as a 16-year-old, last year I was in the quarter-final and now I’ve gone two better this year to win it,’ Littler told ITV after his win.
‘I had a job to do, I just wanted to pick up the trophy and it’s one I can tick off the list now.
‘I’m looking at the Premier League, making sure I’m in the top four and making sure I go to the O2. I’ve got the Pro Tour, the Players Championship and back to the Premier League. It’s going to be a long few weeks.’
A vanquished Wade, meanwhile, conceded that he was no match for Littler on the night having beatan Josh Rock and World No.1 Luke Humphries to reach the final.
“It’s been a while since I got to the final. I played well in the semis but in the final he just gassed me out, Wade reflected. ‘He absolutely bashed me to bits but what can you do against that?
‘He was the far superior player, as much as it kills me to admit it, but it is what it is. For me, it’s a great step in the right direction.
‘Fair play to Luke – at the moment, he’s probably the best or the second-best darts player in the world comfortably.’
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