Luke Littler has revealed he changed his grip and switched to blue flights during his time away from the oche, and the tinkering paid off as he opened his European Championship campaign with a 6-3 victory over William O’Connor, averaging 105.05 in Dortmund.
‘The Nuke’ began with an 11-dart hold and, despite not being totally clinical on the outer ring, his scoring offered him numerous chances as he raced 3-0 ahead. A 107 finish got O’Connor on the board, and ‘The Magpie’ added a 105 checkout that happened to be a break as he closed the gap to two legs, but Littler had too much firepower and booked his spot in Saturday’s action. “Yeah, very happy,” he said. “A decent performance. I felt like I started very well, just as I wanted to, and I’m glad to get another win here. I haven’t got the best record here, but, yeah, I’ve started off well.”
Littler admitted he had been on the board coming into the tournament, his last match being a first-round World Grand Prix loss to Luke Woodhouse. “I think I’m more focused because of the amount of time I’ve had off,” he commented. “I mean, I haven’t been doing too much, but I’ve obviously been practising. People are going to mention my throw because I’ve had that much time off. When I was going to practise, I was just thinking, ‘It’s just boring.’ So I’ve changed things up and changed my grip on the dart on stage. But, yeah, it’s worked out tonight.” He added: “I’m using my new blue flights as well, whereas throughout pretty much my whole career, I’ve always used the black ones. So, yeah, it’s a bit different, but that’s because I’ve had weeks and weeks off to try things. It’s worked out. I did take a spare set of black ones on stage, just in case I got into trouble tonight. But, yeah, I’m happy with the win.”
“I wouldn’t say it’s easy,” Littler said of the process. “I think it’s just what I said: I’ve had so much time off. I’ve had loads of weeks to prepare for this, so I can go to the practice board at home and just change things around. I hit a nine-darter the other night on DartCounter as well, so I thought, ‘Yeah, I think I’ll stay with this until something goes wrong.’ But, yeah, it’s all going well so far.” He added: “I feel refreshed more than anything. The trip back was a bit of a killer because I got up and had my hair done. By the time I got home, it was about five o’clock. I was thinking, ‘I’ve got to go back to the airport again, go through security and everything. When we got back to the hotel, it was half past twelve or one in the morning, so it was straight to bed. I think one of the main things I’ve got to get used to again is the flying. As long as I come here and win, I’ll be happy. Tonight is one step towards the trophy, hopefully.’”
The big news ahead of the event was the absence of Luke Humphries, who withdrew due to illness. “I saw it when the draw came out, and I think that top half of the draw is pretty tough. So I’m kind of glad I didn’t play many European Tours. It keeps me down at the bottom, out of the way,” Littler joked. “But then I’ll meet Nathan again tomorrow. I hope Luke’s fine, obviously. All eyes will probably go on me now that Humphries is out. He’s probably been playing the better darts because he’s played more tournaments than me. But I’ve just got to take it game by game. Obviously, it’s the last one missing, so I can’t put too much pressure on myself. I’m just happy to get back on stage and do my job.”
Littler has won their last five meetings, including the final of the Players Championship Finals in 2025, and Aspinall dazzled in a brilliant 6-3 win over Cristo Reyes. “I think Nathan’s more sick of meeting me than I am of him,” Littler said. “I saw a funny meme about it the other day when the draw came out. But, yeah, that’s just what happens. Obviously, I know Nathan hasn’t played many European Tours. I haven’t played many either, but we’ve both picked up a few wins. I think it just makes us both better. I know he always wants to beat me, and obviously I always want to beat him. Hopefully, it’s another good game tomorrow.”
Reflecting on recent defeats at the World Series of Darts Finals and World Grand Prix, Littler said: “Obviously, the World Series was tough. Then the Grand Prix was a bit of a killer for me because anyone can win, and Luke played very well against me. The World Youth Championship was, I mean, I looked at it as just a day out, seeing old friends I used to play for England with and who I used to play against in the WDF. As soon as we got to the semi-finals against Cam Crabtree, I thought, ‘Right, it’s been eight hours of playing darts. Let’s try and win.’ I got beaten, but, yeah, I’ve had even more time off to prepare. I’ve come back firing tonight, but I’ve got to back it up tomorrow as well.”
On the crowd reception in Dortmund, he said: “Tonight, I think it was very good. There were a few moments here and there, but, yeah, I’ve said in the past that you just have to ignore it. Especially because this is the one I really want to win. I obviously want to complete all the majors, so I’m telling myself on stage to ignore it and block it out. I’ve got to be focused in every game because, if I’m not focused, I’ll probably lose. Then next year, I’ll have to qualify for the European Tour again and come back here. So, yeah, I’m more focused than ever on this tournament.”
Before the event, Littler met Oasis member Noel Gallagher at a boxing event. “Yeah, the boxing was good. Again, it was another relaxed bit of time off. Enjoy it while I can,” he said. “Noel said something about number one, and I said, ‘You had to get that in there, didn’t you?’ He started laughing. I went, ‘No!’ He was like, ‘You?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m still number one, Noel!’ I thought he was talking about Manchester City, but he was talking about me, so fair play to him.”
