Luke Littler produced his fourth televised nine-darter in the ‘second-best leg’ in the sport’s history as he produced one of the greatest World Matchplay comebacks.
The Nuke beat Josh Rock 17-14 in an enthralling semi-final on Saturday night.
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Littler is now into his ninth PDC major final in just 15 premier events since turning professional 18 months ago.
And victory over James Wade on Sunday would also see him become the youngest ever winner of darts’ Triple Crown.
The teenage sensation has already won the PDC World Darts Championship and the Premier League.
In an unusually slow start from Littler, Rock raced into a 5-0 lead at the end of the first session.
However, he finally woke up following the break by immediately getting his first leg on the board.
After his opponent had held his throw, the duo produced one of the most staggering legs of darts in the sport’s history.
Having both opened with a pair of 180s each, Littler took out a 141 checkout with a triple 20, triple 17, double 15 finish.
His heroics caused the Winter Gardens to erupt as the Sky Sports commentators were left in awe at witnessing 15 consecutive perfect darts.
Meanwhile, Littler’s relaxed reaction stunned Dan Dawson in the booth.
Dawson reacted by stating: “A shrug of the shoulders from the young man who makes the extraordinary look routine.”
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As for Mardle, he exclaimed: “180, 180, 180, 180, 141! Josh Rock was perfect in that leg, but this is the problem when you throw second!”
The pundit added: “That is the second best leg you’ll ever see in your life,” in reference to Michael Smith’s effort against Michael van Gerwen in the 2023 World Championship final.
On that occasion, Van Gerwen threw eight perfect darts before missing at double, only for Smith to complete his own nine-darter during the same leg.
Littler could be seen applauding the crowd in response, with Rock himself looking on in disbelief.
The Northern Irishman appeared to celebrate his opponent’s heroics by clapping, before the pair embraced on stage in a classy show of respect.
It was the first nine-dart finish of this year’s World Matchplay and the tenth in the event’s history.
Dimitri Van den Bergh was the last player to do so in the first round in 2024 against Martin Schindler.
Littler had trailed 6-1 prior to his perfect leg, which went on to inspire a dramatic turnaround.
He won 15 of the remaining 23 legs to claim a 17-14 victory over Rock.
Speaking afterwards on his nine-darter, Littler admitted: “It definitely sparked me into life. I didn’t want to give it big [one].
“I was playing awful. At that point I wanted to go into the break at 6-, but I ended up 7-3 down.
“Once again I said to myself, ‘I could do it and come back again.'”
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Despite his humble attitude, he had made World Matchplay history alongside Rock.
The pair’s combined 29 180s is the most in a single match at the tournament.
How many nine-darters does Littler have?
Littler’s perfect leg on Saturday was the fourth televised nine-darter of the 18-year-old’s career.
His first came at the Bahrain Darts Masters against Nathan Aspinall in January last year.
Meanwhile, he has repeated the feat against Luke Humphries and Van Gerwen in the Premier League in 2024 and 2025.
The latter came with a new route as Littler ditched the triple 20, triple 19, double 12 finish he had used for the previous two.
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Instead, he checked out 141 with triple 20, triple 17 and double 15, the same approach as his nine-dart finish against Rock.
Following his previous perfect leg in March, Littler revealed he plans to use the new route when possible for the rest of the year.
He explained: “I didn’t even realise the double 15 was in until Huw (Ware, referee) shouted it. So I think that’s the new route to go for this year.
“You’ve seen players in the world championships hit the nine and go out in that game, so I had to focus after that.
“Michael won the next two legs but I managed to get back into it. It’s good to pick up another nightly win, more crucial points, and to have a six-point over Luke (Humphries) is a good boost for myself.”
