Darts’ flashiest finishes as teen sensation Luke Littler nails tops, tops, tops
Luke Littler produced another moment of darting magic as he nailed a breathtaking 120 checkout in Sheffield.
Having already confirmed his Premier League play-off spot, Littler took on Peter Wright – who was rock bottom of the table following a miserable campaign – but with the pair enjoying freedom in their darts, they both put on a show on Thursday night (May 16).
Earlier in the game, Wright checked out 80 with a D20, D20 combination but just a matter of moments later, ‘The Nuke’ went one better by sticking three darts in tops as Wright sat on 40. The absurd shot even left Wright stunned as he dribbled his water the moment the final arrow landed.
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Undoubtedly the most flamboyant checkout of this year’s Premier League so far, it got us thinking at Daily Star Sport, what are the other flashiest darts checkouts we’ve seen?
Disclaimer alert: The highest checkout of 170 – known as the Big Fish – is ruled out of contention, these are the times that the star’s have left us mesmerised and gone against the grain.
Jose De Sousa – 120
De Sousa ran so Littler could walk; the Portuguese darting maverick stunned the Premier League in 2021 when he pulled off the outrageous 120 checkout against Nathan Aspinall. With the Asp on 56, De Sousa’s first dart landed in the middle of the D20 bed and the remaining two arrows followed. The ‘Special One’ met Aspinall the following week in the play-offs with De Sousa winning 10-9, but he was beaten by Jonny Clayton in the tournament’s final.
(Image: Getty Images)
Michael Van Gerwen – 132
Starting on the Bull and missing can often be a happy accident, that’s why players attempt the 132 checkout aiming for the 50. MVG’s first dart landed in the outer bull but after hitting T19, returned to find the perfect marker to nail the Bull and win his maiden Premier League crown in the 2013 final against Phil Taylor.
Simon Whitlock – 150
We’ve all tried it, but very few have pulled it off, and certainly not at a PDC European event. Whitlock was cruising 5-1 in the third round of the Dutch Darts Championship in 2022 against Sweden’s Daniel Larsson. Requiring 150 with Larsson left on tops, the Aussie pinned three successive darts into the bullseye in the most brilliant darts checkout ever, apologies to the rest of the list.
Peter Wright – 125
Snakebite sent the crowd into raptures and even left MVG nodding as he took out 125 in incredible fashion. Usually starting with a 25 to leave T20 and D20, Wright’s first dart landed in the Bull, but instead of going the conventional T17, D12 route, Wright stayed in the middle of the board to hit 25 and a second Bullseye. Wright later produced the same finish again against Michael Smith on Night 10 of the Premier League in Birmingham last year.
Rob Cross – 140
Voltage’s love for the 18 section became obvious when he rejected the convention way to checkout 140 (T20, T20, D10) by hitting two T18s before hitting D16. His confident checkout came in the final of the World Championships in 2018 against the great Phil Taylor, with those three darts the final arrows thrown at Ally Pally that year as Cross was crowned world champ on debut.
(Image: Getty Images)
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Simon Whitlock – 133
More magic from ‘The Wizard’ saw a double, double finish in the semi-final of the 2014 World Matchplay semi-final against Van Gerwen. Hitting T19 with his first dart, Whitlock rejected the orthodox way of going upstairs for T20 and back down to D8, instead firing in two D19s leaving the crowd and Stuart Pyke in the commentary box stunned.
Kim Huybrechts – 126
Playing against Phil Taylor in the World Championship last 16? No worries. That’s what the Belgian oozed when he ridiculously checked out 126 against ‘The Power’ who was stranded back on 288. Huybrechts went T20 before stunningly hitting the Bull to leave D8, which he duly hit. ‘The Hurricane’ turned to the crowd with his arms aloft and gave a smug shrug in front of Taylor. But the 16-time world champ had to last laugh, winning 4-3 to reach the quarter-final.
(Image: The Bullet / Youtube)
Adrian Lewis – 147
One of the very best to have played the game during his prime, Lewis opted against the darting textbook when he snubbed the T20, T17, D18 route to checkout 147 for a Hollywood T19, D20, Bull combination against Gary Anderson before nonchalantly retrieving his darts from the board, leaving Anderson left smirking at Lewis’ brilliance.
