Luke Littler denied the Cardiff crowd a Welsh winner, returning to form with a victory. The teenager’s win shakes up the table after night five of the competition.
Littler Climbs the Table
Luke Littler spoke about his practice room mood before the night, saying, “I think the flight has been here, there and everywhere. I’ve not been very happy in the practice room, I’ve just been wanting to practice, get on stage, and get this over and done with. I’m glad about the win tonight.”
Littler has moved up to third in the Premier League table. He reflected, “The table looks good now, it wasn’t looking good when I was in seventh. It just goes to show that tonight I had to focus on myself.
“In my first match against Josh [Rock], I wasn’t playing at my best either but I came out victorious. But then, against Gerwyn [Price] and Jonny [Clayton], I had to put it in to get it done.
“I’ve just been trying to take all of this game-by-game and week-by-week. It hadn’t gone my way this far but tonight is something I will take forward to the UK Open in Minehead.”
Littler’s Performance and Mindset
Speaking on stage, Luke Littler said, “It took me a little while to get settled in to this tournament, as it did in the first year.”
“I’ve done really well tonight and I’m proud of myself. I said in my pre-match interview that I’ve felt good every single week, but I just hadn’t shown it. I had even been playing well in practice.
“I’m just so grateful that tonight I could bring my practice play on to this stage and that’s what I’ve done.”
Clayton Still Leads
Jonny Clayton remains top of the table, despite Littler’s victory.
Wayne Mardle commented on Sky Sports, “It is a weird one because we are still looking at Luke Littler as the main man, but the reality is that he is still learning.”
“He is at a time in his career where going four or five weeks without winning makes us think about if it’s turning into a problem. It wasn’t though because he has been winning away from here anyway.”
The Premier League roadshow will be in Nottingham next week. The final takes place on Thursday, 28 May at the O2 Arena in London.