It may have been less than a month since he won his second World Championship, but Littler was desperate to win the title, which boasts a first prize of £100,000, in Milton Keynes. He has won most of the major ranking titles in darts, but the World Masters was one he was yet to add to his ever-growing collection. The World No.1 had been far from his best at the Arena MK throughout the competition. He survived a match dart to overcome Mike De Dekker in the round of 16 and lived through another one in his semi-final clash with Gerwyn Price. 

Meanwhile, Littler’s familiar foe Humphries, the defending champion, looked close to unbeatable throughout the competition. He whitewashed World No. 3 and World Championship runner-up Gian van Veen an hour before his meeting with Littler. 

Throughout his short but historic career, Littler has thrived in the longer formats, but the World Masters’ lightning fast set-play, where two legs is enough to win a set, threatened to be his undoing on multiple occasions. Last year, it caught him out when he was beaten by Jonny Clayton. 

Against Price, he was fallible, missing 24 shots at a double before overcoming the Welshman in a tense final set. Against Humphries, he looked a different player, hitting a 153 checkout and two 121 finishes. 

However, Humphries was also playing some world class darts throughout the competition, including hitting a nine-darter in his victory over Luke Woodhouse earlier in the tournament. When Littler won the fourth set to make it 3-1, the 2023 World Champion won four of the next five sets to go 5-4 up. 

Just as Cool Hand looked set to inflict his first final victory over Littler since the Premier League last year, Littler re-focussed and won the next two sets, securing the title and the £100,000 price with his favourite double 10. 

After the match, Littler admitted he was desperately running out of energy. He said: “I’m shattered, absolutely knackered. Going into the last break 5-4 down, I said I have nothing left.

“I dug deep. I was fully focused and got the job done. It has been a weird week, tough at times, but this is how we battled. Me and Luke in the first major of the year, I am sure it will continue throughout the year.”