Littler produced a series of scintillating displays on Finals Day at AFAS Live as the teenager racked up his fourth TV crown in an unprecedented first year as a professional.
Having defeated Chris Dobey 10-7 in the afternoon’s quarter-finals, Littler dismantled five-time champion and Dutch crowd favourite Michael van Gerwen in the semi-finals, winning 11-4 with a 107.95 average.
That display included a stunning nine successive legs without Van Gerwen being afforded a dart at a double as he came from 4-2 down to power into the final.
Littler then produced his third ton-plus average of the day in the final as he brushed aside another former World Champion in Smith by the same scoreline.
“I’m just happy to be stood here with the trophy at the end of a long day,” said Littler, a winner of World Series events in Bahrain and Poland earlier in 2024.
“I felt relaxed tonight and I played really well across the whole weekend.
“This time last year I was playing on the Development Tour; my name was getting mentioned but after the World Championship everyone knew who I was.
“I’m going to keep building on this and winning more; it’s a busy schedule coming up and I’m ready for it.”
The final began with Smith taking a 2-1 lead, before Littler produced back-to-back checkouts of 140 and 130 to take the lead.
Smith broke straight back to make it 3-3, but was powerless to stop a run of seven straight legs from Littler who moved within a leg of victory at 10-3.
A 170 checkout from Smith stopped the rot but that proved to be nothing more than a consolation as Littler pinned his favourite double ten for the title.
Smith, who survived match darts from Wessel Nijman in Saturday’s second round, came through another dramatic decider against Rob Cross in the quarter-finals before defeating Peter Wright 11-6 in the semis.
“I just didn’t do anything in the final,” admitted Smith, who also lost in the 2018 final.
“It never happened for me, but I was lucky to be in the final. It’s another runner-up trophy, which I’ve collected quite a few of over the years.
“But this weekend puts me in good stead; I’ve had a bit of time off and now I’m ready to get back practicing hard for the rest of the year.”
Earlier in the day, Van Gerwen and world number one Luke Humphries produced a memorable quarter-final which saw the Dutchman get over the line with his tenth match dart in the deciding leg.
Wright overcame Daryl Gurney in the other quarter-final, but was denied a place in a third final in the event’s history when he succumbed to Smith.
