Luke Littler hits nine-darter as he wins Belgian Open
Teenage darts sensation Luke Littler hit a nine-dart finish as he won his first European title on his debut.
The 17-year-old produced the nine-darter to move 6-5 ahead against Rob Cross in a thrilling final at the Belgian Open in Wieze.
Littler lost the next two legs before fighting back to win 8-7.
A nine-dart finish is a perfect leg as it means a player has hit the number of points needed in the least amount of darts possible.
Littler's victory in Wieze means he walked away with the £30,000 winner's prize.
The teenager, who also hit a nine-darter when winning on his World Series debut, said afterwards: "I'm just glad to get over the line.
"I hit the nine and then lost the next two legs, so I'm just glad to get over the line. It's always good to be involved in a good game.
"Like Rob said just then, I bring the best out of him and he's thankful for that, so we always push ourselves to the last leg."
Cross, competing in his ninth European Tour final after beating Gerwyn Price 7-3 in the last four, could not hide his disappointment but praised Littler after his victory.
"He really pushes on," Cross said. "I wanted a big display and got a big display. To be fair I missed a few chances, but I've loved this crowd this weekend.
"This young man has got such a bright future in front of him. The nine-darter was impeccable, amazing. This boy's special."
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Earlier on Sunday, Littler beat Damon Heta 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals and after seeing off Jermaine Wattimena 6-2, he overcame Ricardo Pietreczko 7-3 in the last four.
Littler's maiden European Tour win was tarnished following stinging criticism of him by Pietreczko after the German's semi-final defeat.
The pair appeared to exchange words on stage after their match and Pietreczko later said in a post on Instagram: "So I appreciated him a lot, that you can play such a game at such a (young) age, but I hope the arrogance punishes him."
Littler responded on Twitter by saying: "No idea what I did wrong, no idea what he said, something then don't do it again."
