Luke Littler: World champion lands nine-darter at Players Championship 5 in Leicester

World champion Luke Littler landed a magical nine-darter at Players Championship 5 in Leicester as he continued his red-hot form.

The 18-year-old began the day by getting the better of Niko Springer, as he battled from 3-0 down early in the game to beat the young German 6-5 in a last-leg decider.

Littler then came through a thrilling encounter against Adam Hunt 6-5 in the second round of the event in the East Midlands where he crashed in a magical nine-darter in the sixth leg of the match.

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The Premier League champion recovered from 4-0 down to edge out Dirk van Duijvenbode in a last-leg decider, wrapping up victory with a 126 finish on the bull.

He then secured a 6-2 win over Scott Williams to charge into the quarter-finals where he continued his freakish form by dismantling Damon Heta 6-1.

Littler averaged an incredible 122.96 in the best-of-11-legs match to take his winning streak up to 19 matches, but that sensational run came to an end with a 7-6 semi-final defeat to Gian van Veen, with the Dutchman taking out 121 on the bull in the deciding leg.

'The Nuke' has already picked up three titles in two weeks with the UK Open, Premier League Night Five in Brighton and Sunday's Belgium Open crown.

Joe Cullen reeled off four consecutive legs and capitalised on six missed match darts from Van Veen to clinch an epic 8-7 success and claim his first Players Championship title since 2022.

"I think this is the best win of my career, because of the adversity I have had to endure over the last year," reflected an emotional Cullen. "When you're slipping down the rankings and you're doubting yourself, there is nothing worse in darts.

"I had all-sorts going on away from darts and I wasn't practising. There was no motivation there and that's why I slid down the rankings, but ultimately the buck stops with me.

"I think I'm down to number 22 in the world. There's not 21 players that are better than me in the world, but the rankings don't lie.

"I'm there for a reason, but I am doing everything I can to get myself back up those rankings!"

He added: "I've been putting my work in. I'm down to number 22 in the world but there's not 21 players in the world better than me. Call me arrogant, call me what you will, but the rankings don't lie."

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Earlier in the day, two-time world champion Gary Anderson fired in the first nine-darter on the ProTour in 2025, after producing perfection in the penultimate leg of his comeback win over Ryan Joyce with a 102 average.

Meanwhile, UK Open runner-up James Wade threw his highest ProTour average of 115.92 in a 6-2 victory over Beau Greaves.

Michael van Gerwen is the world-record holder for a televised match with a three-dart average of 123.40 thrown in the 2016 Premier League against Michael Smith.

2025 Players Championship 5
Tuesday March 11
Mattioli Arena, Leicester
Last 16
Gian van Veen 6-3 Dom Taylor
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Lukas Wenig
Luke Littler 6-2 Scott Williams
Damon Heta 6-3 Martin Lukeman
Mike De Decker 6-3 Sebastian Bialecki
Rob Owen 6-5 Gary Anderson
Joe Cullen 6-2 Christian Kist
Kevin Doets 6-5 James Wade

Quarter-Finals
Gian van Veen 6-4 Michael van Gerwen
Luke Littler 6-1 Damon Heta
Mike De Decker 6-2 Rob Owen
Joe Cullen 6-3 Kevin Doets

Semi-Finals
Gian van Veen 7-6 Luke Littler
Joe Cullen 7-5 Mike De Decker

Final
Joe Cullen 8-7 Gian van Veen

Where does the Premier League head next?

The Premier League continues at the Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham on Thursday, March 13 as Luke Humphries and Littler clash in a titanic encounter. Watch Night Six of Premier League Darts, in Nottingham, live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Action from 7pm - stream with NOW.