Luke Littler breezes through to the World Darts Championship semi-finals as he dominates Nathan Aspinall to set up Stephen Bunting showdown and close in on historic first title aged just 17
About as long as it takes to make yourself a cuppa, that’s the time it took Luke Littler to win the first set, and from then on, there was no catching the 17-year-old in his supersonic pursuit of a place in Thursday night’s semi-finals at Alexandra Palace.
Nathan Aspinall is a fine competitor, knocking on the world’s top 10, yet the 33-year-old found himself trailing 1-0 within three minutes and 33 seconds of this match’s start as he walked backstage for the first break wondering what had hit him.
Aspinall fought back with a set here and there, but he struggled to turn this clash into a true contest overall, with Littler triumphing 5-2 as the tournament favourite managed 15 maximums and a 101.54 average.
Littler will face Stephen Bunting after he defeated Peter Wright 5-2 in his own quarter-final, and the teenager said after his victory: ‘It feels like last year. I’m playing with absolute confidence, with freedom, and now on to the semi-finals. I don’t like having days off because I don’t practise. So we wake up tomorrow and we go again.’
Alexandra Palace is a chaotic place – one highlight was seeing six blokes dressed as seagulls chasing a chap in a sausage roll costume – but Littler was calmness personified on stage.
Littler and Aspinall share the same manager, Martin Foulds. The two are close, yet if this opening set was evidence of how the teen treats his friends, you would hate to be his enemy.
Luke Littler was all smiles as he booked his place in the World Championship semi-finals
Aspinall had his moments but was always kept at arm’s length by Littler
Littler produced moments of magic and is one step closer to becoming world champion
Littler looked as mechanically reliable as a metronome. No sooner was he stepping on stage than he was climbing down from it, having whitewashed Aspinall as he secured that set via double two.
When Littler took a 2-0 lead, his average was 111.29 to Aspinall’s 94.47. Aspinall found himself ‘walking in a Littler wonderland’, as the crowd were singing here, and it resembled a cup de sac.
But then, he discovered a way out of what had appeared to be a dead end. It came in the form of a 41 checkout which enabled him to half the deficit to 2-1.
Littler went back to work, an 11-dart leg making it 3-1. While leading 4-1, he surpassed half a century of 180s at this year’s tournament, but Aspinall took out a 70 checkout to make it 4-2.
There was good sportsmanship on show, the two congratulating each other’s checkouts. It was with a single dart into double tops that Littler sealed victory to set up a showdown with Bunting.
Bunting, the 39-year-old Englishman nicknamed ‘The Bullet’, managed to hold back the tears briefly to say: ‘It’s a pinch-me moment. I want to win this title more than anyone in the world.’
In the afternoon session at Ally Pally, three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen overcame the pluckiness of this year’s 300-1 surprise package Callan Rydz to reach Thursday’s semi-finals.
Van Gerwen’s 5-3 victory over Rydz means he will face yet another thrower from the tiny Northumberland town of Bedlington in Chris Dobey, the Geordie who likewise won 5-3 as he ignored the gamesmanship of 2021 champ Gerwyn Price earlier in the day.
Littler will play Stephen Bunting next after ‘The Bullet’ saw off Peter Wright
On the other side of the draw, Michael van Gerwen edged past Callan Rydz in a high-quality encounter
Van Gerwen will take on Chris Dobey after the Englishman overcame his nerves to beat Gerwyn Price
‘MvG’ triumphed at Ally Pally in 2014, 2017 and 2019, with the 35-year-old Dutchman, once tipped to threaten Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor’s tally of 16 world titles, overdue a fourth crowning.
He was made to work for the win by Rydz, who racked up 17 maximums to his 14, averaged 103.88 over his 103.10 and was nonchalant in securing impressive checkouts.
‘You have to maintain it,’ Van Gerwen said. ‘I want to have steak for dinner every night of the week but you need to make sure you keep eating it smoothly. This was nice, but I’ve got to do it again.
‘I never underestimate anyone. You need to maintain this form, otherwise you will be on the train home, simple as that.’
Dobey wobbled midway through his match, this being the stage where he led 4-0 over Rob Cross in last year’s quarter-finals but contrived to lose 5-4 in an almighty collapse. Price applied pressure by delaying his opponent’s throws with overzealous celebrations, but after triumphing 5-3, Dobey said: ‘Thoughts did go through my head, “Please not again.” It’s hard to explain how nervy it was. The hoodoo, it’s forgotten now. I’ve done it. I’ve literally taken that next step in my career.’
