(Reuters) – Luke Littler, a sixteen-year-old, continued his remarkable performance at the World Darts Championship by reaching the final with a 6-2 victory over Rob Cross at the lively Alexandra Palace on Tuesday.
Next, the teenager will face Luke Humphries, another Englishman, who defeated Scott Williams 6-0 and secured a spot in Wednesday’s championship match.
Littler, still days away from his 17th birthday, started off a bit nervously and lost the first set. However, he took control with an impressive display of scoring and double-hitting.
He is the youngest player to ever reach the final of the championships, and Cross, the 2018 champion, could only watch and admire his young English opponent.
After trailing for the first time in the tournament, Littler won six consecutive legs and was simply too precise for his more experienced opponent as he clinched victory with his reliable 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 I could go all the way,” Littler 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.”
Littler defeated five-time world champion Raymond Van Barneveld 4-1 in the last 16 on Saturday before outscoring 50-year-old Brendan Dolan 5-1 in the quarter-finals on Monday.
“I’ll do what I’ve been doing,” Littler added. “In the morning I’ll go for my ham and cheese omelette, then come here have a pizza and then practice on the board. That’s what I’ve done every day.
“I’ll be watching the other semi. I’m sure it will be another cracking game.”
No unseeded player has ever won the PDC World Darts Championship.
Humphries, 28, was delighted to become world number one 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 number one, 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 number one can last a couple of months, world champion is forever and I’ve got a really tough task tomorrow against Luke.”
(Reporting by Anita Kobylinska in Gdansk; editing by Martyn Herman and Ken Ferris)
