I'm proud to tick this one off – Littler

WORLD number one Luke Littler won his first Players Championship Finals title with an 11-8 success over good friend Nathan Aspinall.

- ALAN BROWN

The 18-year-old overtook rival Luke Humphries at the top of the rankings on the way to victory in last week’s Grand Slam of Darts and won a maiden Minehead crown on Sunday.

Littler reached the tournament's showpiece with an 11-8 victory over Gerwyn Price in the semifinals, while Aspinall secured his spot with a dominant 11-2 win over Jermaine Wattimena.

Sunday's final saw Littler storm ahead to take a 5-2 lead, but Aspinall continued to threaten and a brilliant fightback saw him throw a 127 checkout on the way to closing in on the world number one to trail 9-8.

However, Littler stayed composed and hit a checkout of 88 to secure the title, leaving only the World Masters and European Championship missing from his collection of major honours.