‘Genuinely remarkable’ Luke Littler hits nine-darter and wins Belgian Darts Open leaving fans speechless

LUKE LITTLER notched a nine-darter and his biggest pay-day as a PDC event winner - with Belgian Darts Open joy on his European Tour debut.

The Warrington whizkid, 17, toppled Rob Cross 8-7 in what fans called an "unreal tie-beak final" - his sixth impressive victory of the tournament.

Scooping the £30,000 top prize means Littler has won £273k in all over the past three months. 

It followed a controversial end to his semi-final where German opponent Ricardo Pietreczko labelled him "arrogant" - which led to a two-word response from Littler before his mother got involved in the row.

But fans then lapped up his storming finale against Cross - labelling him "genuinely remarkable" and "f***ing phenomenal".

Incredibly, Littler has now hit nine-darters on the way to debut glory in the World Series in Bahrain, ProTour in Wigan and Euros in Belgium. 

This time perfection came in the 11th leg with a double 12 finish for an average of 104.

He said: “I was just glad to get over the line. I hit the nine and then lost the next two legs. I dug in but I just was happy to get over the line. 

“It’s always good to be involved in a good game. Like Rob said I bring the best out of him. Whenever we have battles we always push ourselves.”

On his nine-dart finish, he added: “I think 144 is better than the 141. If the first goes in, then you know the next one should. Then the double 12, glad to hit one. 

“I know the spotlight is on me at the minute because I’ve done so well.”

Fellow Englishman Cross, who lost with an average of 108, said: “He really pushes on. I missed a few chances and I can’t be too bitter about them. 

“This young man has got such a bright future in front of him. The nine was impeccable, I thought it was amazing. "

Meanwhile, viewers called Littler's performance "naughty" and "nuts" as he pipped fellow Englishman Cross.

One darts lover claimed "I can't speak! I can't speak!" after seeing the teenager's calm brilliance.

The thrilling end to Littler's Belgian triumph contrasted with a confrontational finish to his 7-3 defeat of Pietreczko in his previous match - where the two seemed to square up.

The 29-year-old seemed to give Littler an ear-bashing.

But the sport's youngest ever World Championship finalist insisted he was bemused at the response.

He posted on a darts Facebook group: “No idea what I did wrong, no idea what he said. He said something then don’t do it again.”

But Pietreczko said on his Instagram story: “So I really appreciated the fact that you can play a game like that at such an age. But I hope his arrogance punishes him.”

Littler's success in Belgium saw him notch 100-plus averages in five of his six matches.

He beat Jose de Sousa 6-5, Krzysztof Ratajski 6-3, Damon Heta 6-3, and Jermaine Wattimena 6-2 - before his eventful victories over Pietreczko and Cross.

And in fact he walloped Wattimena in his quarter-final after admitting he only practiced for 20 minutes due to watching Liverpool's 1-1 home Premier League draw with Manchester City.