Luke Littler beat rival Luke Humphries to win on his return to the European Tour at the Czech Darts Open in Prague.
Littler had not played in a European Tour event since March, but roared to glory with an 8-6 victory in Sunday night's final to end his opponent's hopes of winning this title for a third straight year.
Littler hit five 180s and averaged just over 95 as both players struggled in the heat at the PVA EXPO after a long day which had already seen The Nuke overcome Michael van Gerwen in the semi-finals, Danny Noppert in the quarter-finals and Krzysztof Ratajski in the last 16.
"It's good to be back and I'm back with a bang," said Littler after his victory.
World No 1 Littler won the first two legs against world No 2 Humphries in Sunday's final, only to see his rival, who has reached four of the last five finals in this tournament, reel off three straight legs to take the lead.
Littler fought back to move ahead with a 130 checkout in the ninth leg - the biggest finish of the game - and then won the next two legs to move 7-4 ahead in a race to eight.
Humphries rallied to win the next two legs and was millimetres away from sending the game to a decider, as he wired two darts at D16.
Littler recovered to pin D10 to win this tournament for the first time, taking home the £35,000 first prize and guaranteeing his place at the European Championship in Dortmund in October.
That's one of the titles that Littler wants to win as he eyes a clean sweep of major trophies in 2026 - and it means he's unlikely to play in any other regular European Tour events this season.
"I'm not sure now I've won this one," he explained. "I think I've secured my place in Dortmund. That's obviously the one I'm chasing.
"In two weeks time it's the World Series in Amsterdam. We'll have to see what happens, what the plan is and how busy I am."
Humphries had overcome Gerwyn Price, William O'Connor and Andrew Gilding earlier on Sunday to reach the final for the third year in a row, but he was not upset at missing out on a 'three-peat'.
"I can't be upset," he said. "The two darts I threw at D16 were right on the wire and if that goes in, it could have been a different game.
"That's just the way it goes. He's a fantastic player. I've been playing here and there, not so great. Maybe good sometimes. I've got to dedicate my life a bit more to get better and keep pushing him.
"I keep saying I'm not beating him in finals so I've got to change things to keep matching him.
"I think he enjoys the challenge and I love it as well. Hopefully over the next four months, I push him and if he does the clean sweep [of major titles] he has to do it the hard way."
Final
Semi-finals
Quarter-finals
Afternoon session
Your Site remains the home of darts with the World Grand Prix (September 28-October 4), Grand Slam of Darts (November 14-22) and World Darts Championship (December 10-January 3) all live.
