Teenager Luke Littler crushes Rob Cross to reach World Darts Championship final
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Luke Littler celebrating after beating compatriot Rob Cross in the semi-finals of the World Darts Championship in London.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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LONDON – Sixteen-year-old Luke Littler called it “crazy” as he continued his fairy-tale run at the World Darts Championship by reaching the final with a 6-2 thrashing of Rob Cross at a raucous Alexandra Palace in London on Jan 2.
The teenager was scheduled to face fellow Englishman Luke Humphries in the final which took place on Jan 3 after press time. Humphries, 28, beat Scott Williams 6-0 in his semi-final and climbed to world No. 1.
Still 19 days shy of his 17th birthday, Littler began a little nervously and lost the opening set against the 33-year-old Cross but took control with an astonishing display of scoring and double-hitting.
He is by far the youngest player to reach the final of the championship – overtaking Kirk Shepherd, who was 21 years and 88 days old in 2008 – and Cross, the 2018 champion, could only watch on and admire his fellow Englishman.
Littler won six successive legs after trailing for the first time in the tournament and was simply too clinical for his far more experienced opponent as he ran away to victory, sealing it with his trusty double 10.
“I have no words, it’s just crazy to think I’m in a World Championship final in my debut. I was happy winning one game but now I could go all the way,” he told Sky Sports.
“Rob told me ‘God bless, you’re a step away, do it’. I’ve just settled on the stage. It took me a few legs to settle in the game and, once I found that rhythm, I was good to go.”
Cross wrote on social media: “I gave it everything but total respect to Luke for another incredible performance. What a player.”
Littler beat 56-year-old Dutchman and five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld 4-1 in the last 16 on Dec 30 before outscoring 50-year-old Brendan Dolan 5-1 in the quarter-finals on Jan 1.
“I don’t think I’ve faced anything difficult, no disrespect to anyone I’ve faced. But I just believe in myself, believe in my own ability,” he added.
And the youngster from Warrington, in England’s north-west, has no plan to change his routine that has served him so well over the course of the tournament.
“I’ll do what I’ve been doing,” Littler said. “In the morning, I’ll go for my ham and cheese omelette, then come here and have a pizza and then practise on the board. That’s what I’ve done every day.”
If successful, Littler would become the first unseeded player to win the World Darts Championship.
Besides that, the teenager who has left school has already earned £200,000 (S$335,000) for being in the final, and could collect £500,000 if he wins the title.
Humphries, 28, was delighted to become world No. 1 after beating 33-year-old compatriot Williams but said he knows he will have a battle on his hands in the final.
“It feels amazing. I would never have imagined myself to be the world No. 1, that is a special, special feeling,” he told Sky Sports. “And to do it in style – I was really pleased with that performance there.
“But like I’ve said in many, many, many interviews, world No. 1 can last a couple of months, world champion is forever and I’ve got a really tough task tomorrow against Luke.
“For one of us, our lives are going to change forever tomorrow, and it might overawe him, but I don’t think it will. I’m going to have to play the game of my life to beat him.” REUTERS, AFP
