Luke Littler is at it again as he rounded off a blockbuster weekend of sport with a star showing of his own, winning not only his second senior title but his first European trophy, and on his debut.
He’s an absolute machine and yes, he’s still only 17.
The teenager played four nights in a row to make it to the final of the Belgian Darts Open title, his first PDC event in Europe, meeting Rob Cross in the last round and going on to beat him 8-7 in a truly thrilling final which featured numerous impressive checkouts — none better so than a superb nine-darter.
Hitting a record number of 180s for the European Tour not only in the match itself but throughout the tournament, notching a whopping 30 maximums all told, he was a crowd-pleaser from the start but the big moments didn’t get any bigger than this:
LITTLER HITS A NINE-DARTER! ☢️🔥
LUKE LITTLER HAS STRUCK PERFECTION IN THE FINAL!
It's yet more history from The Nuke as he pins a perfect leg in the final of his Euro Tour debut!
Luke Littler’s nine-darter at the Oktoberhallen in Wieze sends the Belgian crowd berserk. Just look at the reaction.
As you can tell from Cross’ extremely congratulatory response when the final dart goes in, graceful in defeat as always, there was nothing but admiration for this young man’s talent and immense calm no matter how big the stage.
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You could see how chuffed the Warrington-born teenager was to meet the expectations of the crowd in the decisive leg too, putting on the kind of show European darts fans will no doubt have been hoping for from him, especially after seeing what he did at the World Championships and the Bahrain Masters.
It wasn’t all so warm and welcoming in Belgium though, as his Littler’s semi-final opponent Ricardo Pietreczko (a.k.a. ‘Pikachu’) had some choice words for him as they went in for a parting handshake, with the German labelling the young darting superstar “arrogant” in a frustrated Instagram post afterwards.
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Bemused by the on-stage square-up more than anything, it didn’t seem to bother him too much as he promptly went to fist-pump his 7-3 win in front of the crowd on the night and, thankfully, he had plenty of supporters when it came to the final. Here’s how he sealed the victory:
🏆 LUKE LITTLER IS THE CHAMPION IN WIEZE! ☢️
HE. HAS. DONE. IT.
It's yet another astonishing chapter in the career of the 17-year-old sensation Luke Littler as he wins the title on his Euro Tour debut!
Next up for Luke Littler is night seven in the Premier League of Darts over at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena on Thursday, 14 March, where we’re sure he’ll be riding a wave of confidence fresh from his second title since stepping up to the big leagues after what still feels like just five minutes ago.
If you don’t yet believe that Luke ‘The Nuke’ is going to be/is already well on his way to becoming the real deal, we don’t know what to tell you.
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Just watch how cool, composed and utterly clinical he is up on the oche this season — his first full one, let us remind you — and maybe you’ll start to believe the hype.
He’s also fast become one of our favourite sporting personalities overall and is clearly embracing that side of things and his obvious popularity. For instance, he’s already starring in cereal adverts – as you do.
Leigh Leopards share update regarding Tesi Niu allegations
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester rugby league side Leigh Leopards have now issued an update addressing the allegations levelled at one of their players, Tesi Niu.
With the statement coming directly from the club’s owner, Derek Beaumont, the club have shed light on their understanding of the situation.
Beaumont, who bought the team over a decade ago and rebranded it from ‘Centurions’ to the Leopards back in 2022 (and also owns a local decking company based in Worsley), appeared to speak on behalf of the club following the accusations made last week.
Sharing an official communication on social media on Wednesday afternoon, 8 January, they open by saying that “the club is aware of social media activity of concern from one of its players’ accounts, that of Tesi Niu.”
“The club can confirm that the player’s account was accessed externally and without his knowledge or consent”, they continue, “and [was] deleted a short period thereafter.”
“We were instantly aware of this as it happened”, says the Leigh Leopards owner. “As a club, we have policies and procedures and employ a Player Welfare Manager who is a qualified counsellor.
“Our first port of call in these circumstances is to ensure the welfare of our player and any external party that may be involved. This was immediately initiated.
“Having since personally spoken with Tesi and Kiana individually and at length, and then our Player Welfare Manager and Head Coach, I am completely satisfied that they are both being fully supported.
“I can also confirm that there is no official complaint to the club regarding the player, nor to any relevant authorities. To that end, the club will make no further statements about the matter and would welcome supporters’ trust in the club’s processes and findings.”
For context, you can read what 24-year-old Niu has been accused of in full down below.
While the organisation has now insisted that nothing formal has been raised within the club nor with the police at this time, many supporters are still insisting that there must be a full investigation into the troubling claims.
At present, however, the statement seems to suggest that they won’t be taking the matter any further internally – at least not for now/until a proper case is opened.
Nevertheless, many Leopards supporters, rugby fans and people online in general have understandably raised more concerns following the statement.
Neither Tesi Niu himself nor Kiana Smith – his partner of more than five years, currently said to be pregnant with their third child – has yet to share any further message(s) following the initial declaration of alleged abuse.
Serving as yet another fitting tribute from his beloved football club, who already honoured the late, great, Manc musician at Old Trafford, it’s rumoured to launch later this year.
Snapped alongside United’s current third kit for the 25/26 season, the rumoured ‘lifestyle’ jersey is apparently coming very soon.
This pair of images has seemingly confirmed the claims made by trusted online kit source, Footy Headlines, who specialise in sharing pictures of the football shirts, boots and more, who had already reported on the release in 2025.
As you can see, not only does the design feature a striking blue take on the band’s iconic album art style (expanded from an original painting by guitarist John Squire), but if you look closely, it also features the band’s iconic song and overriding slogan, ‘I Wanna Be Adored’, built into the crest.
You can see the rest of the existing Stone Roses collection in full down below.
We’re sure there are loads of other little details besides the twist on the badge still to be spotted, but for now, all we know is that the world-famous sporting franchise is continuing to capitalise even further on The Stone Roses connection.
Since the last batch of officially licensed adidas x Stone Roses merch quickly became collector’s items, we can only assume that this latest shirt won’t be the only new addition.
For instance, one user already commented, ‘Where’s the bucket hat?’
As for Manchester United, they’re no doubt looking to generate as much revenue as possible after having to pay another sizeable severance package following the sacking of Ruben Amorim – the question is, who is going to be next?
Danny Jones -
11th March 2024 
