Littler’s prize-money haul received another healthy boost, taking home £10,000 for finishing runner-up. That adds to the £200,000 he banked at the World Darts Championship and the £20,000 he won in Bahrain.

“I just went leg by leg, hold by hold, I took out 180s and he’d come back with one,” said Littler. “I wired the 170 and he gets it, throughout the game every hold was unbelievable. I put him under pressure but he just wouldn’t miss.