Luke Littler gives heckling verdict and bold claim after Australian Darts Masters win

Darts star Luke Littlerwas on cloud nine as he headed for the land of the long white cloud, warning: "I’ve got that winning feeling back."

After backing up histriumph at the World Matchplay last month with a World Series title at the Australian Darts Masters, Luke the Nuke is close to his imperious best. And following a five-month gap on his trophy rampage between the UK Open and a series of breathtaking comeback wins in Blackpool, Littler’s renewed scoring power looks like giving him first dibs at the maiden £1 million prize jackpot in darts.

Littler, 18, heads for Friday’s New Zealand Darts Masters already installed as heavy favourite to retain his PDC World Championship crown at Alexandra Palace in December, where the Sid Waddell Trophy comes with the sport’s first seven-figure payday. His Nukeship was feeding kangaroos and cuddling koalas with girlfriend Faith Millar in Sydney - but four months out, it’s already clear he will be the beast to tame at Ally Pally.

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Littler said: "Other players go through these spells, but as a world champion you need to be winning things, and it took five months to taste that winning feeling again.

"But winning the World Matchplay meant everything to me and now, to back it up in Australia, I’ve got that winning feeling back in me. It’s a different feeling when you are world champion, but winning gives you confidence - and this is the most confident I’ve felt in a very long time.

"After travelling all this way I wanted to win, especially after falling short in the final last year (when he was thrashed 8-1 by Gerwyn Price). Losing any final always motivates you and makes you want to come back and go one step further."

Once he had shaken off the jetlag, Littler looked in command as he conquered Oz by beating home favourite Damon Heta, Stephen Bunting and then Mike De Decker 8-4 in the final.

He was noticeably more at ease with any heckling among the crowd - a distraction he had found difficult to overcome in Germany at the World Cup of Darts and an earlier European Tour event in Munich.

Littler said: "The first time I hear something I might react, but then I’ll just let it go and hopefully allow my darts to do the talking. Someone in the crowd here said I’m ‘washed’ - I’m not sure exactly what he meant by that, but this (trophy) is my response.

"No-one has been teaching me how to deal with it (heckling). When you’re on that stage, you’re alone and no-one else is with you, no-one else is going to help you. You’ve just got to get on with it.

"I was trailing in most games at the World Matchplay but I managed to dig myself out, but I was in the lead a few times here and felt very comfortable."