Luke Littler Survives Scare to Reach Darts Quarter-Finals

Luke Littler advanced to the quarter-finals of the PDC World Darts Championship with a thrilling 4-3 win over Ryan Joyce. Despite struggling on doubles, hitting just 14 of 48 attempts, the 17-year-old showed resilience. Littler won the first, third and fifth sets but was repeatedly pegged back by Joyce, who forced a deciding set. In the final set, Littler upped his game, breaking Joyce in the first leg and averaging 111 to seal a 3-1 victory.

He finished with a 103.14 average, the third highest of the tournament but his checkout issues remain a concern. Littler will face 12th seed Nathan Aspinall in the quarter-finals. Aspinall had an easy 4-0 win over Ricardo Pietreczko, averaging 94.28 while Michael van Gerwen, aiming for his first World Championship title since 2019 defeated Jeffrey de Graaf 4-2. Van Gerwen was unshaken after dropping the first two sets, winning six consecutive legs to clinch the win.

He will meet unseeded Callan Rydz in the next round, who triumphed 4-3 in a tense match against Robert Owen. Meanwhile, eighth seed Stephen Bunting dominated Luke Woodhouse 4-0 with a solid 96.78 average and will face 17th seed Peter Wright, who eliminated defending champion Luke Humphries. Chris Dobey, who won 4-3 against Kevin Doets will meet Wales’ Gerwyn Price in the quarter-finals. The tournament continues with high-stakes matches as the players vie for a place in the semi-finals.