Despite recording an insane three-dart average, Luke Littler has bowed out of the Dutch Darts Masters.Littler enjoyed a remarkable average of 107.59 – the highest of the tournament – but it was not enough as Stephen Bunting prevailed 7-6 in their semi-final encounter. He also pinned seven 180s to Bunting’s five, but it was Littler’s finishing that proved costly.The 18-year-old managed to hit six successful checkouts from 14 attempted, but his highest finish was 56.As for Bunting, he managed one more checkout from the same number of attempts. Littler began the match brightly and raced out to a 3-1 lead, but Bunting clawed back the deficit and tied it at 3-3.
The pair went back-and-forth until they reached a deciding 13th leg.
Unfortunately for Littler, Bunting found another gear as he rattled off an 11-dart leg to secure victory. Bunting’s win put him on course for a second-straight Masters title having beaten Gerwyn Price to win the Bahrain Masters.The Liverpudlian must get past former world champion Rob Cross to make it back-to-back title triumphs.
