Sporting Life
Luke Littler in action at the PDC World Championship
Luke Littler in action at the PDC World Championship

Darts results: Luke Littler battles past Ian White to reach the fourth round of the PDC World Darts Championship

By Sporting Life
Darts
Sat December 28, 2024 · 4d ago

Luke Littler's run of 14 successive 100+ averages came to an end but his performance was still good enough to battle past Ian White 4-1 and reach the fourth round of the Paddy Power World Darts Championship

The 17-year-old has remarkably managed to surpass three figures in all seven of his matches at the Grand Slam of Darts, which he won, before doing it a further six times at the Players Championship Finals, where he finished runner-up to Luke Humphries.

His explosive record-breaking final set average of 141 against Ryan Meikle in the previous round of his World Championship campaign helped him reach 100 for a 14th successive match but had to settle for a highly creditable 97.84 during this latest victory.

Of course, victory is all that matters to the Nuke, who also fired 12 180s in just 21 legs played, in his quest to become the youngest ever player to lift the Sid Waddell Trophy.

Littler almost suffered an early shock when White missed a dart for the first set, before more uncharacteristically loose doubles let the 54-year-old level the match at 1-1.

Littler looked to have stirred when he rounded off a much more impressive third set with a shot at bull, but he gifted White another set dart in the fourth before crucially snatching the set and moving on to complete his victory.

He will face Ryan Joyce in the last 16 after Joyce edged a nail-biting 4-3 win over Ryan Searle in the final match of the afternoon session.

Littler told Sky Sports: “It was tough, Ian threw everything at me and I had to stay switched on.

“It was just a case of settling into it. I know what’s gone wrong tonight, the doubles, but most importantly, I’ve won.”

Three-time champion Michael van Gerwen admitted he has plenty more to give after chiselling out a 4-2 win over last year’s quarter-finalist Brendan Dolan.

Van Gerwen, who is chasing his first title since 2019, charged through eight consecutive legs to seize control of the match at 3-1 but somewhat fell over the line after dropping a scrappy fifth set to the dogged Northern Irishman.

Van Gerwen told Sky Sports: “It was a really difficult game. Everyone knows Brendan doesn’t give up, and I tried to punish him at the right moments and wasn’t capable of doing that.

“After 1-1 I think I played some really good sets but I let it slip away with a few things. There’s still a lot of work to do, but I know I’m capable of doing it.”

Chris Dobey twice came from behind to beat Josh Rock 4-2 with a spectacular D19-D19 finish and move one win away from his third consecutive world quarter-final.

Distracted Aspinall storms through

Nathan Aspinall fired a warning to his rivals after booking his place in the last 16 with a 4-0 win over Andrew Gilding - despite being distracted mid-match by a fan dressed as a hot dog downing a pitcher of beer.

The 33-year-old Aspinall did not have to be on his best form to beat his below-par opponent and maintain hopes of emulating his back-to-back semi-final appearances in 2019 and 2020.

But he believes an evident improvement in one of the weaker parts of his game augurs well for the sterner tests that will face him in the later stages.

Aspinall told Sky Sports: “Normally I’m really bad at finishing, that’s normally why I lose, but in the last two games I’ve scored very well. I don’t care about averages and numbers – I’m in the last 16.

“In the last six months I’ve been very flat when I’m playing and I’ve made a conscious effort to get that fire lit in my stomach. If I get the scoring going with that finishing, I’m tough to beat.”

Aspinall will face Ricardo Pietreczko in the last 16 after the German brushed aside Scott Williams 4-1, wrapping up his victory with an impressive 121 checkout.

Ryan Joyce set up a potential last 16 clash with Luke Littler after withstanding a double comeback by opponent Ryan Searle to clinch a nail-biting 4-3 win.

Searle dredged his way back to level after losing the first two sets, then also recovered from 2-0 down in the sixth set to force the decider.

But at 3-2 down in the final set, Searle missed a single 20 to set up a dart at tops that would have tied the set at 3-3, and Joyce duly finished the job to earn his place in round four for the first time since 2019.

Saturday results and Sunday schedule

Saturday December 28
Afternoon Session (12.30pm GMT)
Third Round (Best of 7 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

  • Ryan Joyce 4-3 Ryan Searle
  • Scott Williams 1-4 Ricardo Pietreczko
  • Nathan Aspinall 4-0 Andrew Gilding

Evening Session (7pm GMT)
Third Round (Best of 7 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

  • Chris Dobey 4-2 Josh Rock
  • Michael van Gerwen 4-2 Brendan Dolan
  • Luke Littler 4-1 Ian White

Sunday December 29
Afternoon Session (12.30pm GMT)
Third Round (Best of 7 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

  • Jeffrey de Graaf v Paolo Nebrida
  • Kevin Doets v Krzysztof Ratajski
  • Dimitri Van den Bergh v Callan Rydz

Evening Session (7pm GMT)
Third/Fourth Round (Best of 7 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

  • Ricky Evans v Robert Owen
  • Johnny Clayton v Gerwyn Price (R4)
  • Luke Humphries v Peter Wright (R4)

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