Teenager Luke Littler secured his place in the Premier League play-offs by beating Rob Cross 6-4 in the final on night 14 in Aberdeen.
The 17-year-old’s victory was his fourth of the season and he has beaten 2020 world champion Cross in successive weekly finals.
Littler is joined in the four-man play-offs at London’s O2 Arena on 23 May by world number one Luke Humphries, who has secured his place because of the remaining fixtures.
Warrington-born Littler is eight points clear of world champion Humphries and is well placed to seal top spot with just two weeks left of the regular season.
“I can just play with a free throw now that I’m through. I’ll play to win but if it’s not to be, it’s all about getting ready for London,” Littler told Sky Sports.
Asked if he is the best player in the world at the moment, Littler replied: “No. I don’t know who is.”
Despite not believing he is, Littler is in phenomenal form.
He has won 12 games in a row across two Premier League weeks with a European Tour success in Austria in between.
Littler was scratchy in his quarter-final against Nathan Aspinall, surviving match dart and a checkout percentage of just 24% to claim a final-leg win.
His semi-final performance was scintillating though as he brushed aside 2023 world champion Michael Smith to win 6-1.
Littler averaged 110.1 and hit six of seven doubles to reach his fifth nightly final in six weeks.
He exchanged breaks with Cross twice in the opening six legs, before claiming the ninth leg against the throw to move to within one.
Cross, who keeps his slim play-off hopes alive, missed double six to force a decider before Littler hit his favoured double 10 to secure the win.
Elsewhere Smith gained two points on Aspinall and Michael van Gerwen as the race for the final two play-off spots intensifies.
The final weekly round in Sheffield on 16 May sees fourth play fifth and that may well decide the last spot.