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.
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
11th March 2024 
