Luke Littler says that Manchester United’s FA cup defeat to Fulham provided the motivation for his demolition of James Wade in the UK Open finals.
Littler took the title with an 11-2 victory over the three-time champion having dominated from the start of the match. He quickly opened a 5-0 lead and from there his win seemed inevitable.
Earlier in the day, Littler faced a tricky outing against Jonny Clayton in the semi-finals with that match being played concurrently with Man Utd’s FA Cup fixture. Littler, an United fan, discovered that his team had lost the penalty shootout during an interval with his clash against Clayton locked at 5-5.
The teenager, fuelled by United’s disappointing result, responded by winning six of the next seven legs to beat Clayton 11-6 and reach the final.
"In the second break I heard about the Manchester United loss and it spurred me on a bit," Littler admitted to ITV. "I won the next five and only needed one more leg and I got the job done.
"Before I walked on it went to penalties. At the first break, I didn't think anything of it. But I did at the second break...and then the third session was unbelievable."
Littler’s form continued into the final where he swept past Wade by winning the first nine legs in a row, hitting nine 180s and averaging 101.51.
"This is a tournament I really wanted to win," said Littler, "It's my third time at the UK Open. I came here as a 16-year-old a couple of years ago, I made the quarter-finals last year, and now I've gone better this year to win it.
"I had a job to do tonight. I just wanted to pick up the trophy, and it's one that I can tick off the list now!"
Littler’s victory means he has closed the gap on Luke Humphries at the top of the PDC Order of Merit after registering a fifth Premier televised title and a 12th PDC title of his career.
