Luke Littler silences hostile Liverpool crowd with Premier League victory

Luke Littler overcame a hostile crowd to claim a sweet Premier League victory in Liverpool.

The 17-year-old was on the receiving end of jeers at the M&S Bank Arena, but turned them into cheers as he hammered Rob Cross 6-2 in the final, where the hostile crowd could not help but watch in admiration.

Littler has been a fans' favourite since bursting onto the scene at the World Championship over Christmas but his antics on social media have not been well received on Merseyside.

The avid Manchester United fan and has enjoyed goading bitter rivals Liverpool in recent weeks as their quadruple hopes have crumbled.

Despite coming from nearby Warrington, he was jeered onto stage in unprecedented scenes, but took it in good spirit, reminding fans of the score in Wednesday night's Merseyside derby ahead of his quarter-final win over Gerwyn Price.

Littler, whose showmanship has increased as he gets used to life in the spotlight, was engaging with fans during his semi-final against Nathan Aspinall and that seemed to inspire him as he won four legs in a row to turn a 5-2 deficit into a 6-5 win, surviving five match darts.

By the time of his final against Cross the crowd had simmered down, perhaps watching in awe of a brilliant performance.

He broke in the opening leg with a 111 checkout and did not look back, sprinting to an emphatic success, with an incredible 105 average.

Victory - his fifth weekly in in 13 nights - sends Littler back to the top of the Premier League table and puts him on the brink of securing his place at the four-man play-offs at the O2 in London and he could not have chosen a better place to do it.

"I knew what was coming this week, I was building up to it, I always engage with the crowd and in the semi-final I was