Luke Littler demolishes Johnny Clayton to set up Luke Humphries World Grand Prix final

Luke Littler demolished Johnny Clayton 5-1 to set up a mouth-watering World Grand Prix final clash against Luke Humphries. Littler, 18, returned to Leicester's Mattioli Arena after being pushed all the way by Gerwyn Price in an exhausting, draining, at times low quality, but unforgettable quarter-final.

Clayton immediately made a huge statement in the first leg when he broke Littler by checking out 85 with a bullseye finish. Not only was Littler unphased, he was motivated, as he responded with an astonishing 161 finish. He then consolidated it with a routine hold of throw to put himself in control of the first set. Unlike the chaos of his clash with Price, who barrelled his way through the first two sets, Littler calmly took the opener by finishing on his favourite double ten, which spectacularly deserted him in the opening stages of his clash with the Ice Man.

Clayton began the second set by checking out with 118, but it was only a hold of throw for the Ferret. The Welshman missed a golden opportunity to break when he missed double 14 and double seven, allowing Littler to punish him by hitting double 10 again.

It was costly as Littler took the second set with a cool 89, finishing on double 16 - Clayton was in deep trouble. But the experienced World No. 6 put the pressure back onto the teenager by breaking him in the first leg with a massive 154 checkout.

Unperturbed, Littler hit back-to-back 180s on Clayton's throw and almost took out a 109. The Welsh wizard came close to taking out 108, but missed the double 16, allowing Littler to break back with a routine double eight checkout.

The youngster gifted him an opportunity to break when he messed up a 60 checkout by hitting a flat 20 and then a flat five, which was followed by three missed darts on double 10. Clayton eventually broke by hitting double one and moving within a hold of throw of set three.

Clayton's first 180 of the game came in the final leg of set two, setting him up for a 128 finish which he took by hitting a crisp bullseye. Littler's doubling in troubled him in leg one of set four, as Clayton was on 54 by the time the World No. 2 got down to 253.

The Ferret took the leg with ease to start set four well, but Littler re-settled himself with a strong 99 finish, where he landed plush in the middle of double 20. Clayton missed four darts at double 18 but hit it on his fifth attempt to go 2-1 ahead, but Littler grabbed the next leg by the scruff of its next by doubling in with tops and hitting two treble 20s straight away before going on to hit double 12 to force a set-decider.

Littler's rival scored brilliantly, but had the rug pulled from under him by the sight of the teenager checking out 140 to go 3-1 up in sets. The teen hit his 10th max of the game in leg one of set five and comfortably followed treble eight with tops to hold throw.

Clayton's rhythm slid in set five and allowed Littler to whitewash him and move within a set of victory. If there was any danger of Littler losing focus, a 14-dart leg in the opener of set six banished any concerns.

He threatened a stunning finish by starting the third leg of the set with five perfect darts but slipped his sixth below treble 20. It did not matter as he hit 137 to leave himself 64 after nine arrows. He missed two darts to win, but with Clayton marrooned on 200, he was in no danger. With his next attempt, he hit tops to reach the final.

Littler will face World No. 1 Humphries in their sixth television final. The two Lukes have already competed in the 2023 World Darts Championship final, the Premier League final on two occasions and the Players' Championship.

Humphries progressed into the showpiece in Leicester by overcoming Danny Noppert 5-3. The Dutchman did scare 'Coolhand' on multiple occasions, but Humphries' class came through at the right times. The Leeds born star will need every ounce of his quality, as Littler has only got stronger throughout the competition.