Luke Littler shows his elite mentality with reaction to his stunning nine-darter at Bahrain Darts Masters

Luke Littler showed his elite mentality with his reaction to hitting a superb nine-darter against Nathan Aspinall at the Bahrain Darts Masters.

Littler hit the nine-darter in the first leg of his quarter-final against Aspinall, which the 16-year-old went on to win by six legs to three.

It is his first major tournament since his historic run to the final of the World Darts Championship, where he lost a close-fought final to world number one Luke Humphries.

Littler went down the most traditional route for his nine-darter, hitting two 180's before nailing a 141 checkout to achieve the incredible feat.

It is a feat that has only been achieved by the legendary 16-time world champion Phil Taylor at World Series events - illustrating the gravity of his achievement.

And in his post-match interview with ITV's Dan Dawson, Littler's reaction proved exactly why he is already one of darts' biggest stars.

He said: "I'm just glad to win, and I think I played really well there.

"It's just good to get one on TV, and the first [nine-darter] of the year goes to me.

"I just hope the list continues, and hopefully I hit a few more.

"I just take it game-by-game [looking at the rest of the tournament]. If I do win, I win. If I lose my next game, it is what it is.

"But I don't think about losing, I just think about winning."

Littler will take on 2021 world champion Gerwyn Price tonight in the semi-finals, with the winner taking on the victor of the other last four tie between Michael Smith and Michael van Gerwen.

The winner of the event will earn £20,000 in prize money, while each of the four semi-finalists are guaranteed to earn £5,000.

Littler, who came into the tournament ranked as the world number 31, has gone past World Championship semi-finalist Scott Williams into 30th position in the Order of the Merit by virtue of his progression in Bahrain.