ALEXANDRA PALACE — Luke Littler wrestled with the weight of expectation and the overwhelming love of the Alexandra Palace crowd to push past veteran Ian White and into the World Darts Championship last 16.
For the second consecutive match the 17-year-old struggled early on, blown off course by the adoring reception he received and the distractions of a week’s break between matches.
But once again he recovered and rallied. While this did not quite match the heights of his record-breaking set in the second round, what began very uncomfortably became inevitably routine.
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Read MoreWhite, who is over three times Littler’s age and used to play against his grandfather Phil in the Runcorn leagues, produced some of his best darts in a decade to challenge and harass the bookies’ favourite.
And for a while, it worked. The Nuke averaged below 74 through the first three legs and only won the first set after White had missed a dart at tops. He then lost the second set, as he had against Ryan Meikle a week prior, and doubts emerged yet again.
At this point, Littler was hitting just a quarter of his doubles and failing to harness the power of a crowd that temporarily turned against him.
But he continued to build into the game and into himself, unleashing an onslaught of 180s to push his way past White.
This was not a vintage Littler performance – his doubling in particular was uncharacteristically sub-par – but it was enough to earn himself a place in the last 16 against Ryan Joyce on Monday. He remains on course for a semi-final meeting with world No 1 and reigning champion Luke Humphries on 2 January.
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