LITTLER TWO WINS FROM WORLDS GLORY
02/01/2025 By Aaron Nijjar
By Phil Lanning
LUKE LITTLER is just two games away from being crowned the youngest-ever World Darts Champion.
The Nuke out battled stablemate Nathan Aspinall with a 5-2 quarter-final triumph at the Ally Pally.
Littler, who continues to justify his status as the bookies’ favourite, will be even closer to lifting the Sid Waddell Trophy if he gets the better of Stephen Bunting in the best-of-11-sets showdown today.
*Luke Littler is 7-1 with Star Sports to hit five PDC nine-dart legs in 2025, get on it here
The 17-year-old star said: “I’m so glad to win. The crowd were chanting for Nathan and wanted a comeback. I had to finish it.
“When we each won a set, we gave each other a fistbump.
“But when the referee says it’s ‘Game On’, it’s game on. Afterwards, we are fine.
“Ever since the first game, which was tough, it has felt like last year playing with absolute confidence. Now it’s the semi-finals.
“The crowd were good for me and Stephen. They can take the pick of whoever they want.
“Everyone has seen that I have to dig deep in this world championship. But if you win dirty, it’s an even better feeling. When you dig deep it really does matter” The first time this darting duo met, back in Bahrain last January, a 16-year-old Littler hit a nine-darter, the youngest-ever to do so in the professional ranks.
The pair share a manager in Martin Foulds but he was not visible in the VIP seats, as if to avoid any suggestion of favouritism.
The No 4 seed opened up in electric fashion with a 105 finish – one of eight 12-dart legs – and wrapped up set one in 3 and a half minutes.
It was the first time this Festive period that he had started swiftly and not in a sluggish manner.
As he walked off, he smiled broadly to his family and friends and did the same hands-out celebration that Champions League-winning striker Didier Drogba did whenever he scored in Chelsea colours.
Aspinall, 33, must have walked off there, thinking to himself: ‘My goodness, what could I have done differently there?’ And the worrying inner thoughts would have increased when Littler cleaned up set two with an average of 111.29 on his stats sheet.
The Stockport man is known for being a scrapper, especially when the going gets tough.
He has suffered with dartitis and there was evidence of that crippling affliction when he would routinely refuse to let go of the arrow and pause before throwing.
It is to his credit that he can keep performing at the highest level and after Littler missed the Bull to go 3-0 up, the No 12 seed showed his enduring class by clinching set three on double 16.
At that point, Aspinall was giving it all the theatrics, interacting with the crowd, stopping his throw purposefully, slowing down the pace of the game.
These were all new aspects that Littler, in only his 11th game on the Ally Pally stage, had to contend with.
An 11-dart leg saw Littler go 3-1 up and then a 101 finish was the highlight of set five.
Aspinall kept the game alive with a score of 70 in the last leg of the sixth set but it only delayed the inevitable ? and the pair embraced at the end.
Littler, with 51 tournament 180s on his card and an average of 101.54, progressed with 48 minutes on the match clock following a 101 checkout.
And it could get even better if he sees off his Bunting. Earlier in the evening, Bunting cast a dizzying spell to knock out two-time world champion Peter Wright 5-2.
The Bullet, 39, cried backstage with his eldest son after it was confirmed he is the new world No 5.
He said: “I felt really nervous. Peter is a massive friend of mine and my son’s favourite player.
“I am so happy to get over the line. I was in control of the game, Peter came back into it, and I thought: ‘Refocus, don’t let myself down.’
“Each and every game, I have focused on one opponent.”
Scot Wright admitted: “I’ve got no excuses. Stephen played better and could have put the game to bed earlier.”
Images by Taylor Lanning.
