Nathan Aspinall earned his second Premier League darts victory this season with a 6-4 victory against Michael Smith in the Night 12 final in Rotterdam.

Smith beat Gerwyn Price in the semi-finals to reach Thursday’s showpiece against the Asp, who pulled off an amazing comeback to beat Luke Humphries 6-4.

Aspinall took the first two legs in the final and although Smith started to grow into the match the Asp remained in control to take a two-leg lead.

Bully Boy capitalised on outer ring misses to pull a leg back before Aspinall responded to lead 5-3.

Smith continued to fight back and hit a stunning 170 checkout the following leg, but after missing three match darts the Asp eventually wrapped up victory with double eight.

The result means that Aspinall climbs into third in the table and believes his 140s helped him throughout the final.

He told Sky Sports: “Everyone knows me and Smithy are really good mates, we’re actually going on holiday next week together- so it might be a bit awkward!

“I came from behind against Luke and I’m thinking ‘don’t ruin this opportunity, you’ve been given a good chance here’ and I thought I played well.

“I thought I controlled the final, I didn’t play amazing, but my 140s were fantastic in that final and I know if I’m scoring well there’s not many people can beat me.”

Arguably Aspinall’s highlight of night 12 came against Humphries in their semi-final meeting.

Humphries spoiled Michael van Gerwen’s Rotterdam homecoming with a 6-5 victory, fending off a late comeback from the Dutchman to meet Aspinall in the final four.

“Cool Hand Luke” got off to a quick start with a two-leg lead, but the Asp began to creep back into contention, taking advantage of Humphries’ misfortune on the outer ring to come from 4-1 down to draw 4-4.

Finishing with a 97.18 average, Aspinall hit double 20 to secure his spot in the final.

Reflecting on that victory, the Asp added: “I’ve got a reputation of being behind, digging deep and winning games.

“What I always say is my opponent might be 4-0 up, but I know I’m better than you in my head.

“So if you can win four legs, I can win four legs and that is always what I try and tell people.

“Luke’s 4-1 up there, he wasn’t playing great, I saw him go and I’m thinking ‘yeah you’re the world champion, but if I play my game I’m as good as you’.

“That’s what I keep telling myself throughout the game and that was a big win against Luke tonight.”

After reaching the last three successive Premier League finals, Luke Littler was knocked out in the first quarter-final of the evening following a 6-3 defeat to Smith.

Smith met Price in the semi-finals after the Iceman claimed a 6-3 win over Rob Cross and he subsequently took Smith all the way in their final four meeting to force a deciding leg.

Bully Boy then hit a 74 checkout to squeeze into his fourth final of the campaign and he sits fifth in the standings.

Michael Van Gerwen ended Luke Littler’s Premier League winning run to claim victory on night 11 in Birmingham.

Littler had been targeting a third consecutive nightly victory following back-to-back successes in Belfast and Manchester, which put him top of the table.

The 17-year-old had looked to be building up another head of steam after earlier edging out Rob Cross in a last-leg decider and then holding off a stirring fightback from world champion Luke Humphries to win their latest epic tussle 6-5 – landing five maximums with a match-average of just over 107.

Dutchman Van Gerwen, though, capitalised on a low-key start to the final, before eventually breaking twice to close out a 6-3 win and rekindle his own play-off ambitions.

Van Gerwen, the defending Premier League champion, had avoided another early exit after coming from behind to beat Nathan Aspinall in his first match and then eased past Michael Smith 6-4.

Littler remains top of the table with 26 points, two clear of Humphries, while Van Gerwen sits third on 22 and Aspinall fourth.

Van Gerwen hopes he can now head into night 12 in Rotterdam with renewed confidence.

“I have made it hard for myself to be fair,” the Dutchman said on Sky Sports, “But more importantly it is about how you bounce back.

“I know the last few weeks have not been great for me, but to come back with a win tonight feels good for me.”

Van Gerwen added: “I had to go really deep tonight and at the end, Luke and I neither really played our A-game, but when you win nights like this, it is not always about who is playing well – sometimes it is who can handle it.

“I had a struggling few weeks, but to bounce back with a win like this gives me confidence of course.

“People will write you off when you off when you lose, that is how things go, but I believed in my own opportunities and you need to make sure you keep your mind focused.

“I know there is more to come – the fighting spirit in my body is still there. I need to make sure I am good for next week.”

In the night’s opening quarter-final at the Utilita Arena, Humphries – who enjoyed European Tour success at the recent German Darts Grand Prix in Munich – came from 4-1 down to claim five straight legs and beat Peter Wright, who remains cut adrift at the bottom of the table.

Littler had been trailing 3-1 and then survived a match dart as he eventually battled past Cross, before former world champion Smith put last week’s defeat by Gerwyn Price behind him with a 6-3 win over the Welshman.

Van Gerwen landed an impressive 152 checkout as he came from 4-2 behind to take control of his quarter-final against Aspinall, going on to close out a much-needed 6-4 win.

Luke Littler insists he is “just a lad doing what he does best” after Nathan Aspinall called him a celebrity rather than a darts player.

Littler has transcended the sport following his explosion onto the scene at the World Championship over Christmas.

The 17-year-old has been a guest on the Jonathan Ross Show, Comic Relief and appeared on a podcast with social media stars The Sidemen.

However, that has not been a distraction as he has proved himself to be already one of the best players in the world, having won titles at the Bahrain Masters, PDC Players Championship, Belgian Open and making it back-to-back nightly Premier League wins at his Manchester homecoming on Thursday.

“Maybe look at my following, I might be classed as a celebrity,” he said. “But I’m just a lad doing what he does best.

“Am I? I don’t know. I’m just a dart player. I just get on with it, whatever comes my way.

“I just have to get on with it. Whether I say things and don’t back it up. But at the minute I’m saying things and do back it up.”

Asked what his favourite celebrity booking has been so far, he said: “Probably meeting up with The Sidemen. I’ve been watching them since the opening packs on Fifa 13 and 14.

“Just to chat with them and chill out when I’ve got a day off.

“It’s always good just to step away from the darting world, even if it’s just a day at home.

“At the minute everything is going well. I’ve not been planning to win anything, just let my darts do the talking.”

Littler beat his stablemate and friend Aspinall on the way to glory at the AO Arena on Thursday night.

It was Aspinall, who has been mentoring Littler on the mental side of the game, who said that Littler is more than a just a darts player.

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But ‘The Asp’ says Littler still has plenty to learn from those who do not claim the spotlight in the same way.

“He is a fantastic talent. What he’s done for the sport. Forget about his darts ability because it’s not about his darts,” he said.

“He’s not a darts player, he’s a celebrity. I’m a darts player, he’s a celebrity. That’s the difference.

“But what’s he doing, because he’s a celebrity, he’s projecting darts to a whole new level.

“I did a day of media on Tuesday at the BBC, BBC have never cared about darts. All of a sudden me and Luke Littler are in there for five hours doing media, they want us.

“That isn’t because of me or (Michael) Van Gerwen, that’s because of Luke Littler. So you’ve got to give credit where credit is due.

“He is helping us boys out as much as himself. But darts-wise, he’s great but he hasn’t got what we’ve got at the moment.

“He’s got to learn from us. I don’t learn from him, he learns from me.”

Luke Littler was inspired to win his Premier League homecoming by Manchester United’s late collapse at Chelsea.

Littler, a staunch United fan, came on to stage at the AO Arena in Manchester moments after watching his side conceded two goals in injury time to lose 4-3 at Stamford Bridge and claimed a second successive weekly Premier League win, beating Gerwyn Price 6-3 in the final.

The 17-year-old star, who enjoyed a maiden victory in Belfast last week, was happy to give United fans in attendance something to cheer about.

“We were watching backstage, we were winning 3-2 and we conceded a penalty and Cole Palmer scored and then he scored again,” Littler said.

“I was in a bad mood, I was like, ‘I’m winning this now’. It gave me motivation.

“There were a few Manchester United fans on the walkout so I was glad to win.”

Price had thrown an epic nine-dart finish against Michael Smith in the semi-final, but was not good enough to get past the teenager, who was imperious in the final.

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Victory sends him to the top of the Premier League table as his star continues to burn bright following his breakthrough at the World Championship over Christmas.

Having already won titles at the Bahrain Masters, PDC Players Championship and Belgian Open, he is now all-but certain to qualify for the play-offs at the O2 in London.

“I just try and live my life as I have done so far,” he said. “As a 17-year-old boy, I just know every week playing these guys I have looked up to, I just thrive off it.

“All I do is stay in my zone. I just do what I do.”

Price produced his best performance of this year’s competition and became the first man to throw a perfect set of darts since he did it twice in a night in Belfast in 2022.

And his run to the final raises his hopes of getting to the O2, though he has a lot of work to do in the final few weeks.

Littler’s night started well as he took a winning record in his rivalry with Michael van Gerwen.

It had been tied at 3-3 but Littler moved ahead with a 6-3 quarter-final win before beating Nathan Aspinall in the semi-final, thanks largely to 131, 90 and 136 checkouts.

Price was superb in beating Peter Wright in the quarter-final before a magnificent performance, capped by the nine-dart finish, sent him to the final.

Luke Littler saw off stablemate Nathan Aspinall to secure his first Premier League night win in Belfast.

Littler never looked back after edging out Luke Humphries in a last-leg decider of the opening quarter-final at the SSE Arena, which ended the world champion’s three-night winning Premier League run.

The 17-year-old – who has won titles at the Bahrain Masters, PDC Players Championship and Belgian Open in a breakout year – followed up with an impressive 6-3 win over Michael Van Gerwen, who had beaten him on night two in the Berlin final.

‘The Nuke’ landed a 136 checkout in first leg of the final, then just missed finishing off 170 in second before Aspinall broke throw as he built a 3-1 lead.

Littler, though, fought back to level with a showpiece bullseye-25-bullseye finish – which got a high-five from close-friend Aspinall – and then pushed on to within one leg of victory at 5-3.

Aspinall dug deep to break back in the next, but Littler eventually got the job done on double 10.

Overall victory on night nine moves Littler up to second in the table, four points behind Humphries, while Aspinall now sits in fourth, the last of the play-off places.

“I am just happy to win my first one,” Littler said on Sky Sports.

“People may have seen I have changed my throw to take that little bit of extra time then releasing the next two. I have put more practice in and it has paid off.

“I can’t wait for next week (in Manchester). I know I have got Michael (Van Gerwen) in the first round, but Nathan will obviously enjoy it also in his home town.”

Aspinall had reached his fourth final of this year’s Premier League campaign with a 6-2 win over Peter Wright, in which he produced 14 scores over 100.

Earlier in the other quarter-finals, Premier League title holder Van Gerwen came from 4-2 down against former world champion Michael Smith to win the last four legs, securing victory on a 150 checkout.

Aspinall had seen off Gerwyn Price, last year’s Belfast winner, in a last-leg decider to leave the Welshman further adrift of the play-offs, while Wright beat 2018 world champion Rob Cross 6-3.

World champion Luke Humphries was at his clinical best to seal a hat-trick of Premier League wins on Thursday.

The world number one saw off Peter Wright and Nathan Aspinall before impressively defeating Michael Smith 6-2 in the final in Dublin.

It gave Humphries control at the top of the table, following victories in Brighton and Nottingham.

The 29-year-old won the first four legs to take control of the showdown against Smith and wrapped up victory with double 16.

“The last three weeks have been fantastic,” Humphries told Sky Sports afterwards.

“The standard has been high. I’m not unbeatable but I’m putting in that stage of performance where it takes something big to beat me and nobody has done that so far.

“I’m just happy with the way I’m playing and if I keep playing like this then it will take a tough performance to beat me – that’s all I ask of myself.

“If someone beats me and I play well then I’m not too disappointed but the last three weeks have been a dream.

“I’m really pleased with the fashion I’ve won the last three nights.”

Humphries extended his lead to seven points as Michael van Gerwen was beaten 6-5 by Gerwyn Price, who ended a run of four successive quarter-final losses.

Luke Littler had a night to forget when he lost to Smith – for the third time – in the first round of night eight.

The 17-year-old succumbed 6-4, having led 3-1, his second quarter-final exit of the season.

It leaves him fifth in the standings after Aspinall gained two points for edging Rob Cross 6-5.

“It’s my first year in the Prem. Some weeks have gone to plan and some weeks have not,” Littler said.

“But it’s all about getting the points on the board. Obviously this is the halfway point, whatever happens from now until the end is the crucial part.”

World champion Luke Humphries delivered back-to-back nightly wins to move top of the Premier League with a 6-3 victory over Nathan Aspinall at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham.

Humphries, who also triumphed in Brighton, beat Michael Smith in his opening match and then comfortably saw off Peter Wright to reach a second successive final.

Aspinall had ended the hopes of Luke Littler with a 6-3 win in the semi-final, but soon found himself trailing against the world number one.

Humphries had secured an early break to lead 2-0 which he soon extended to 4-1 on the back of another maximum.

Aspinall clawed a couple of legs back to trail by just one with a break of his own by checking out on double top.

The world champion, though, made the most of some wayward finishing to take the next leg and move one away, which he set up for a 78 finish, landing treble 18 and double 12.

Humphries now moves two points clear at the top of the table, with Aspinall sitting fourth.

“I had two great performances in the first two games, and Nathan was fantastic against Luke, who is such an amazing player – it gets to the point where you are thinking ‘play with two darts’ so Nathan did well to beat him,” Humphries said on Sky Sports.

“It was not the best final, maybe as we had both played really well we felt the pressure was off us and relaxed a little bit, tried too hard.

“But back-to-back weeks in the Premier League is really tough, so I am really proud to have done that and to be top of the league.”

Humphries added: “What me and Luke have done since the worlds has been amazing for the sport. I think the sport is in the best place possible now, with all these players, and is in the best place it has ever been.

“Hopefully now the crowds can keep getting behind us and enjoying it, because it is going to be an exciting sport for the next nine months.”

Littler was looking to build on his Belgian Darts Open final victory over Rob Cross, which had included a nine-dart finish, and earlier recorded an impressive 6-2 win against previous league leader Michael Van Gerwen.

Aspinall, though, produced his own top form in their semi-final clash, landing five maximums with an average of just over 104 to see off the 17-year-old sensation.

Humphries, meanwhile, hit four maximums as he had little trouble in coasting to a 6-1 win over Wright, who had earlier secured his first points of the competition.

In the night’s opening quarter-final at the Motorpoint Arena, Wright ended his barren run with his first points on the board when he edged out Gerwyn Price in a last-leg decider after the 2023 runner-up had missed three match darts.

Nathan Aspinall earned his first Premier League darts victory of the season after beating Rob Cross 6-2 on night five in Exeter.

The Asp reached back-to-back finals with wins against Peter Wright and Luke Humphries before beating Voltage to move into fourth in the table.

His victory ended Michael van Gerwen’s run of three successive Premier League darts victories, with Humphries knocking the Dutchman out in their quarter-final clash.

Aspinall was beaten 6-4 in last week’s final in Newcastle and admits he has had a slow start to this year’s campaign.

He told Sky Sports: “It was a slow start to the season, last week was massive for myself and I made the decision tonight to forget about double 16 because I’ve missed it so many times and I went for tops.

“I’m very happy, the last two weeks I’ve really dug deep. Everyone knows I’m a fighter and I’ve been down the first three weeks, but a final and then a win the last two weeks, I’m over the moon.”

Aspinall took the early advantage in the final, winning the first three legs and after a series of missed attempts on the outer ring, he eventually hit double four to take the fourth leg.

Cross struggled on the doubles and missed a double eight, allowing Aspinall to snatch the fifth leg with a 160 checkout.

Voltage pulled two legs back to give his opponent a scare, but missed double 10 in the eighth leg before the Asp swooped in, hitting double 20 to secure the win.

“I like proving people wrong, that was my plan, didn’t start off like that. I’ve been down in the dumps but I think I’ve shown my fighting spirit the last two weeks,” Aspinall added.

“Granted, I’ve not performed at the level that I know I’m capable of but by God do I dig and I’ve dug deep tonight, last week was the same. That win against Michael Smith last week first game, scrappy game but that’s kickstarted my season.”

It was a disappointing evening for Cross, who stormed into the semi-finals with a dominant 6-1 victory over Gerwyn Price, throwing a 109.69 average during that game.

Voltage then met Luke Littler in the final four following Littler’s victory over Michael Smith in the quarter-finals.

He took a 2-0 lead before Littler found momentum and the game was tied at 3-3, but after missing six match darts Cross eventually reached the final hitting double two.

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.

Although Van Gerwen needed one leg to win, Aspinall clawed his way back and nearly took him to a decider in the 10th leg, but missed double 16.

The Dutchman made no mistake finding double 18 to wrap up victory and hopes to put himself in a comfortable position in the upcoming weeks.

He told a post-match press conference: “I think it was really big of course to win another Premier League night it’s match three, it’s hard.

“I think I had a tough draw tonight this night, to win the first game against Gezzy then Luke Littler then of course Nathan Aspinall in the final, it wasn’t easy, but of course you still have to do it. Then to make it actually happen is always a great feeling.

“Of course you want to make yourself as comfortable as possible but I think with this win I can look forward next week but that’s what I want to do.

“I want to make sure I put myself in a comfortable position, make sure I do the damage again and make sure I get more points, that’s the only thing I can do.”

After beating Price in the quarter-finals, Van Gerwen edged to the final with a 6-5 victory against Littler in the final four.

The teenager beat Peter Wright 6-5 in the quarter-finals in a close encounter that went the distance to set up a final-four clash against the world number two, where Littler piled on the pressure.

Van Gerwen missed six match darts allowing “the Nuke” to take it to a decider, but the Dutchman kept his composure in the final leg, hitting a 90 finish to win.

He now leads the standings by eight points and believes he has a different mindset in his approach this year.

“When you play the best players you have to play the best game, you have to perform and have to win,” he added.

“Of course over so many weeks you’re going to have bad days, you’re going to have good days, but overall you need to make sure you keep your momentum going and that’s what I’m doing at the moment.

“I think I have a different mindset now, I’m going to look week-by-week, don’t put myself in the same position last year.

“Last year was another week, I wasn’t really there mentally and I’ve changed that this year.”

Thursday was Aspinall’s first Premier League final of the season following victory over Rob Cross in the semi-finals.

After narrowly beating Michael Smith 6-5 in the quarter-finals, the Asp faced a tough test against Cross, where missed doubles allowed “Voltage” to get his foot back into the game.

His struggles on the outer ring saw him miss three match darts before Cross missed double 16 and Aspinall made no mistake to wrap the game up with the following dart.

Teenage sensation Luke Littler started with a nine-darter as he moved into the semi-finals of the Bahrain Masters with a 6-3 win over Nathan Aspinall.

The 16-year-old World Championship runner-up needed just three visits in the opening leg against fellow Englishman Aspinall.

Littler’s first three darts found the treble 20 bed and he repeated the feat on his return before a seventh dart set up a treble 19, double 12 finish.

The teenager was playing in just his second PDC event after becoming the youngest player to reach World Championship final at Alexandra Palace, where he eventually lost to Luke Humphries, earlier this month.

Littler won the second leg against the darts to take a 2-0 lead, only for Aspinall to break back in the third and then hold to make it 2-2.

However, Littler was not to be denied and eventually ran out a 6-3 winner with a 116 check-out to book a last-four showdown with former world champion Gerwyn Price.