Luke Littler beats Luke Humphries to secure back-to-back Premier League wins

By Rebecca Johnson, PA

Luke Littler earned back-to-back Premier League victories with a 6-1 win over Luke Humphries in the final in Newcastle.

Carabao Cup final goalscorer Dan Burn was among several Newcastle players who watched Littler beat Stephen Bunting and Rob Cross on his way to a fourth win of the competition, extending his lead at the top of the standings after night eight.

Both Littler and Humphries had previously met in two finals during this season’s Premier League, with one win each.

Humphries cut a frustrated figure as Littler stormed into a 4-0 lead with three successive double 20 checkouts.

Missed doubles proved to be costly for the world number one throughout the contest as Littler eased to victory, admitting afterwards he overcame some tiredness during Thursday’s showpiece.

Littler said: “I’m very happy with my performances tonight, obviously it drifted off a bit towards the end, feeling a bit tired. It’s just good to get over that winning line in the final.

“My normal throw, or what I was throwing with tonight, I just felt tired so changed it up a bit. After the match Luke said he was tired, but I just had to stick in there.

“I’m feeling well. Tonight I was feeling tired when I would’ve been last week in the final. It’s all about making sure in yourself you’re right and get up on stage to play these games.”

An impressive evening for Littler started with a dominant quarter-final victory over Bunting, where he earned a 6-0 win in 10 minutes, averaging just under 110.

Bunting remains bottom of the standings without a win so far, but Littler hopes he can get that much-needed victory under his belt.

“I think last week he said he’s putting too much pressure on himself, without a win in eight weeks,” Littler said.

“If I were Stephen you’ve just got to relax. Saying ‘come on win that first game’. I’m sure once he gets that first win and gets that winning feeling he’ll go on, I think he could win a night.”

Another dominant display leaves Littler eight points clear at the top of the table, having won 16 matches in total.

He added: “Performances, I think that does go to show how everyone says I am the best in the world at the minute.

“But you know me, I’ll never really say I am the best in the world but I’m performing better than these guys, so maybe I should be saying I’m the best in the world, but we’ll just see how it goes.”

On his way to the final, Humphries went the full distance with Nathan Aspinall in their thrilling semi-final clash, edging a 6-5 win with an average of just under 107.

In the quarter-finals, Humphries met Chris Dobey, who was competing in front of his hometown crowd.

Dobey entered the arena to the theme of “Local Hero” but his homecoming was dampened by Humphries, who wrapped up a 6-3 win with double 16.