Littler beats De Decker to defend Belgian title

World champion Luke Littler successfully defended his title at the Belgian Open, defeating local player Mike De Decker. Littler continued his outstanding competitive form, once again proving his dominance in the sport of darts.

Littler won the event last year in Wieze during his European Tour debut. This year, the 18-year-old secured back-to-back victories by defeating De Decker 8-5. He demonstrated strong mental fortitude and superb technique in the final, leaving his opponent struggling to cope.

World number two Littler defeated Luke Woodhouse (6-4) and Dave Chisnall (6-4) on Sunday, and then overcame 14th seed James Wade 7-3 in the semi-finals. This victory laid the foundation for his final showdown with world number 21 De Decker.

29-year-old Belgian player De Decker performed excellently in his home event, advancing all the way to the final. Prior to this, he had never broken through the quarter-finals in a European Tour event. He eliminated world number one Luke Humphries in the second round on Saturday and continued this good form on Sunday, defeating Martin Schindler (6-3) and former world champion Gerwyn Price (6-4).

In the semi-finals, De Decker came back from a 6-4 deficit to narrowly defeat Ross Smith 7-6. However, in the final against Littler, he trailed 3-1 from the start. Despite De Decker's attempts to fight back, Littler ultimately prevailed with his superior strength. Littler is in excellent form, having won the UK Open last weekend and also winning the fifth night of the Premier League on Thursday.

Littler averaged 94.36 in his second-round victory over Ryan Searle on Saturday, and his average score exceeded 100 in all four matches on Sunday. In the final, his average score was 102.87, while De Decker's average score was 92.25. Furthermore, Littler's checkout percentage was also far higher than his opponent's, reaching 53.33%, while De Decker's checkout percentage was only 38.46%.