
Luke Littler narrowly misses out on World Matchplay Darts record after beating Ryan Searle in 16 MINUTES
The teen sensation won his first-ever clash on the Winter Gardens stage, smashing Heavy Metal 10-2 in Blackpool on Sunday.
2
Luke Littler blitzed Ryan Searle in just
Credit: Shutterstock Editorial
2
The teen sensation won his first-ever clash on the Winter Gardens stage
Credit: Shutterstock Editorial
He said: 'It's been an up and down season so far. World Cup didn't go to plan for me and Luke (Humphries), tough conditions.
'But now it's the Matchplay and you're battling it out with the best in the world.'
Littler flew out of the blocks, ripping into a 5-0 lead in just
SEVEN MINUTES
and hitting five out of six shots on the doubles.
READ MORE ON LUKE LITTLER
It took Searle six legs to get a double on the board after The Nuke piled on the pressure including a 126 checkout but his finishing just dipped off slightly in the latter stages.
Littler told
"I'm so glad to get that win, get that winning feeling and I can't wait to come back.
"I felt very comfortable, I have been practising so much. I've just been putting in hours and hours. I'm glad it's paid off.
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"All eyes are on me now, just take it game by game… I can't wait to get back on stage."
Anderson progresses to play
Luke Littler shows off new look for World Matchplay Darts as fans are left divided
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RTÉ News
6 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Luke Littler digs deep to keep World Matchplay hopes alive
Luke Littler dug himself out of a massive hole to stay alive in the World Matchplay with a tense 13-11 win over Jermaine Wattimena. Littler fell 4-0 and 7-2 behind but charged back into an 8-7 lead, the match then going to a tiebreaker before the teenager made it into the quarter-finals. Littler looked in ominous form with his crushing 10-2 win over Ryan Searle on Sunday but the tables were turned early on here. Wattimena meant business and stormed into a 4-0 lead that left heads spinning in the Winter Gardens. Littler took the next two but it was only a temporary reprieve as Wattimena rediscovered his rhythm, making it 7-2 with back-to-back 180s part of an 11-darter. When Littler pulled back the next leg he gestured to the crowd, pointing to the world champion's star on his shirt as he indicated he was not ready to go home yet. And he then set about showing it as he won six legs on the spin, the pressure clearly getting to Wattimena as his earlier poise vanished. The Dutchman recovered to level at 8-8, then punished a Littler miss for 9-9 as the contest went the distance. As it went to extra legs both players were missing their throws before Littler got the D10 he needed to end the fight. "When I pointed to the star on my shirt, I'm a world champion for a reason, I find these gears when I need it," Littler said on Sky Sports. "I've not felt pressure like that since the first round of the world championship. I was a bit nervous and it's on to my third game here, I've won two of them. "I want to get back on stage and right now I can't wait to be in the quarter-final." Earlier Gerwyn Price stormed through with an 11-3 rout of Chris Dobey. Price left Dobey with little chance, averaging 108.73 and hitting eight 180s in a performance highlighted by a 146 finish that put him 3-0 up. "It was fantastic," the Welshman said. "The middle part of the game I felt like I couldn't miss. I put Chris under a lot of pressure. I think he still played decent in patches. "I think early on we were both flying and I was just pipping him on a couple of legs, probably disheartened him a little bit. It's a good game for me."


Irish Daily Mirror
6 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
St Patrick's Athletic keeper outlines his World Cup hopes and European dreams
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The Irish Sun
6 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Sky Sports presenter can't keep straight face at darts star Andrew Gilding's excruciating answer to question on live TV
SKY SPORTS presenter Polly James could not keep a straight face after darts star Andrew Gilding gave a remarkable answer to a question live on TV. Gilding, 54, progressed past Dirk van Duijvenbode 11-5 to reach the World Matchplay of darts quarter-finals for just the second time in his career. 3 Andrew Gilding left a Sky Sports presenter and fans stunned with his answer to a question Credit: 3 Polly James admitted she was unable to keep a straight face at Gilding's 'stiff answer' Credit: Taylor Lanning/PDC 3 Gilding is into the quarters of the World Matchplay of darts for the second time Credit: The English player was interviewed by Sky Sports on stage at Winter Gardens in Blackpool after his match. However, his answer to the presenter's first question left both James and darts pros stunned. Goldfinger said: "Thank you. I don't know what happened. "I've spent two days in the hotel room, getting stiff and come up here today feeling absolutely awful and somehow it happened." READ MORE IN DARTS His answer left viewers stunned, with James revealing she was barely able to keep her composure in a social media post. She said: "People asking how I kept a straight face….. I bloody didn't." Stunned Glen Durrant - a three-time champion of Lakeside and winner of the Premier League in 2020 - posted: "What was that about Andrew Gilding / stiff / hotel room. I didn't quite catch it." Meanwhile, two-time Women's Series winner Gemma Hayter said: "Spent two days in the hotel room getting stiff. Most read in Darts BEST ONLINE CASINOS - TOP SITES IN THE UK "Wonderfully worded Andrew Gilding," followed by a laughing emoji. Another fan who was taken aback said: "Andrew Gilding spent two days in the hotel doing WHAT?!" Gerwyn Price and Daryl Gurney in heated ruckus on stage at World Matchplay Darts Continuing on his low-key prep for the tournament, Gilding added: "We went out for fish and chips but that's about it really..." Asked what about Blackpool brings out the best in him, he said: "All the Goldfinger scarves. I've got a lot more support over the years." On the support he was receiving from fans, the World No28 continued: "It's amazing. I can't believe it. Thump my chest for it." Gilding concluded by saying he would not be watching the nights remaining games to discover his opponent, admitting he doesn't care who he plays next. As it turns out, his next opponent will be reigning world champion The Elsewhere, Gian van Veen is taking on James Wade and Stephen Bunting is facing Jonny Clayton. List of all-time Darts World Champions BELOW is a list of darts world champions by year. The list does not include winners from the pre-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) era or BDO world champions. That means Raymond van Barneveld, for example, is only listed once - Barney also won four BDO titles - and none of Eric Bristow's five BDO titles are included. 1994 - Dennis Priestley 1995 - Phil Taylor 1996 - Phil Taylor (2) 1997 - Phil Taylor (3) 1998 - Phil Taylor (4) 1999 - Phil Taylor (5) 2000 - Phil Taylor (6) 2001 - Phil Taylor (7) 2002 - Phil Taylor (8) 2003 - John Part 2004 - Phil Taylor (9) 2005 - Phil Taylor (10) 2006 - Phil Taylor (11) 2007 - Raymond van Barneveld 2008 - John Part (2) 2009 - Phil Taylor (12) 2010 - Phil Taylor (13) 2011 - Adrian Lewis 2012 - Adrian Lewis (2) 2013 - Phil Taylor (14) 2014 - Michael van Gerwen 2015 - Gary Anderson 2016 - Gary Anderson (2) 2017 - Michael van Gerwen (2) 2018 - Rob Cross 2019 - Michael van Gerwen (3) 2020 - Peter Wright 2021 - Gerwyn Price 2022 - Peter Wright (2) 2023 - Michael Smith 2024 - Luke Humphries 2025 - Luke Littler Most World Titles 14 - Phil Taylor 3 - Michael van Gerwen 2 - John Part, Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright 1 - Dennis Priestley, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Luke Humphries, Luke Littler