Van Gerwen knocks out Littler on way to third Premier League win in a row

  • Dutchman beats Aspinall in night four finale
  • Littler beat Wright 6-5 in quarters before falling by same score

Michael van Gerwen is seeking further glory after earning his third successive Premier League Darts victory with a 6-4 win over Nathan Aspinall. The Dutchman beat Gerwyn Price and teenager Luke Littler to secure a spot in the final, where the seven-time Premier League champion came from behind to beat Aspinall.

Aspinall started brightly, winning two successive legs but was left to rue missed doubles which had troubled him throughout the evening as Van Gerwen hit a 10-dart break on his way to leading 5-2.

Continue reading...

Luke Littler hits nine-darter on way to Players Championship debut triumph

  • Littler beats Ryan Searle in final on his first Pro Tour appearance
  • Gerwyn Price forfeits match over ‘pathetic conditions’ at venue

Teenage darts sensation Luke Littler has won the opening Players Championship event of the season, hitting a nine-darter on the way to a stunning victory on his debut in the competition.

After landing the nine-dart finish against Michele Turetta in one of the earlier rounds, 17-year-old Littler dug deep to beat Ryan Searle 8-7 in a thrilling final. Despite Searle edging the averages by 111.71 to 109.64, Littler won the deciding leg in Wigan to capture the £15,000 winner’s purse and a first PDC Pro Tour ranking title.

Continue reading...

Stephen Bunting credits hypnotist for his revival after winning Masters title

  • Bunting beat Michael van Gerwen 11-7 to secure PDC darts title
  • World No 16 opens up on mental health issues caused by slump

Stephen Bunting has opened up on his mental health issues and revealed how working with a hypnotist has helped to turn his career around.

The 38-year-old won his first televised PDC title on Sunday in the Masters, beating Michael van Gerwen 11-7 in the final in Milton Keynes. Bunting’s previous biggest career title came in 2014, when he won the BDO world championship.

Continue reading...

Milton Harris stripped of training licence after ‘bullying’ and ‘inappropriate behaviour’

  • BHA panel states trainer is ‘not a fit and proper person’
  • Evidence of WhatsApp messages to former employees

The turbulent career of Milton ­Harris appeared to reach an abject conclusion on Wednesday when the Grade One-winning trainer’s licence was removed indefinitely by the ­British Horseracing Authority’s Licensing Committee, due to multiple breaches of its conditions ­including significant financial mismanagement, initiating a campaign of bullying and intimidation against fellow trainer Simon Earle, who shared some of his facilities, and serious concerns around safeguarding issues at his yard.

The panel’s decision that Harris is “not a fit and proper person” to hold a licence marks the end of his second spell as a trainer. The first, between 2000 and 2011, ended when he was made bankrupt over an unpaid tax bill, and he spent seven years out of the sport until the BHA, which had turned down two applications in the intervening period, finally agreed to reissue his licence in 2018, subject to a number of conditions.

Continue reading...