Luke Littler finishes with a flourish to reach World Matchplay semi-finals
Littler had a five-leg advantage at one point in the contest, during which he produced 18 maximums.
You lot got your moneys worth again😅😂 over the line and into the semi finals🫡 pic.twitter.com/BrODgkB0W6
— Luke Littler (@LukeTheNuke180) July 25, 2025
However, Gilding set up a tense finish – with a 160 finish the highlight of a three-leg streak by the former UK Open champion.
Littler, 18, said afterwards: 'I just had to stay focused, and I'm so glad to get over the line.
'Andrew is a top player. He fought back really well, and that's why he's a major champion.
'He's such a tough opponent, but I didn't panic. I missed a few doubles at times, but my scoring power was really strong tonight.
'The atmosphere was unbelievable. I really didn't want to go to a tie-break, so to hit an 11-darter with back-to-back 180s was class.'
Rock managed a 104.02 average in his 16-11 win over Gerwyn Price, the fourth quarter-final to be played at the Winter Gardens.
The victor said afterwards: 'I can't wait to finally play Luke on the big stage. The darting world will be watching that game.
'Luke is one of my close friends behind the scenes. Hopefully we both turn up, but I'm sure it will be a cracking game.'
Saturday's other best-of-33 leg semi-final sees James Wade face Jonny Clayton.
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Scottish Sun
15 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
‘I can't believe that' – James Wade breaks etiquette in Luke Littler clash leaving darts fans fuming
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) JAMES WADE shocked fans by walking off the World Matchplay stage and choosing not to conduct a live post-final Sky Sports interview. The Machine was beaten 18-13 by sensational Luke Littler, the reigning world champion, on Sunday night in Blackpool. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 5 Luke Littler celebrated lifting the Phil Taylor Trophy on stage but Wade did not hang around for the live Sky Sports TV interview Credit: Sky Sports 5 James Wade lost a second successive major darts final to Luke Littler this year Credit: Getty 5 Littler earned £200,000 in prize money for the victory in Blackpool on Sunday night Credit: Getty It was the second time he had lost a major final to The Nuke, having been demolished 11-2 in the UK Open finale in March. The etiquette, but not protocol, is for the runners-up to receive their trophy on stage and then hang around to speak to the host broadcaster. In this case it would have been with the excellent reporter Polly James for Sky. Yet emotion clearly got the better of Wade who, once he received his silver plate off PDC chief executive Matt Porter, swiftly left the oche and went backstage. READ MORE IN DARTS LUKE OF LOVE Littler plants kiss on girlfriend Faith, 19, during World Matchplay walk-on It surprised TV viewers who were treated to an interview with Littler but not with the 42-year-old Aldershot ace, a father of two. It means, quite unusually, there were not quotes from Wade about how he played or what perhaps he could have done differently. Littler's victory, aged 18, means he replaced Wade in the history books as the youngest winner of the World Matchplay, one of the most coveted events on the calendar. BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS There are no suggestions that Wade, the new world No.5, will be fined or reprimanded for his actions as there is no obligation to speak. Yet it is good form and good manners to speak to the fans and live TV audience. Or even hang around as Littler celebrated lifting the Phil Taylor Trophy in front of the Winter Gardens audience. This is exactly what Wade – a 11-time major winner – did when he lost in the UK Open showpiece occasion at Butlin's Minehead earlier this year. Once this event, which was broadcast on ITV, was over, he spoke glowingly about the teenager that had just destroyed him on the oche. Wade said back on the night of Sunday March 2: 'I'm the senior dart player, but he absolutely smashed me to bits! 'What can you do against that? He was the far superior player. Fair play to Luke. At the moment, he is comfortably the best or second best dart player in the world.' You wonder if his decision to walk away early will impact his chances of being selected by the PDC for the Premier League Darts competition in 2026. 5 Wade was surpassed as the youngest World Matchplay champion by 18-year-old Littler Credit: Getty 5 The Machine is one of the legends of the sport and is now up to No.5 in the world rankings Credit: Getty That is, of course, unless he breaks into the top four spots in the Order of Merit, in which case he would be an automatic pick for next year's Prem. His absence from the stage as the ticker-tape fell on Littler's head surprised fans, James O'Hara expressed his displeasure on social media by saying: 'I can't believe Wade left the stage before Littler even lifted the trophy!' Disappointed Tom Clayton wrote a sarcastic message on X, which said: 'Nice to see Wade stay on stage to watch Littler lift the trophy. Not! Piss poor that.' And darts fan Craig Milner commented: 'Walking off stage before Littler gets his trophy says it all about him. Bit of a p****. Well done the Nuke!' Littler – who has completed the Triple Crown set – posed for photos with his parents, management and new girlfriend Faith.
Scottish Sun
17 hours ago
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Luke Littler skipping event and makes cheeky joke after finding out where it is
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) LUKE LITTLER plans to take a short break from darts and is not tempted to make a trip into enemy territory this week. The Nuke won the £200,000 World Matchplay in Blackpool on Sunday night and then marked the occasion by playing his Xbox computer until '3am or 4am'. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 5 Luke Littler celebrated his World Matchplay victory on Sunday night with girlfriend Faith Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 5 The Nuke cut a nonchalant figure when he hit a nine-darter in the World Matchplay semi-finals against Josh Rock. Credit: Getty The arrows will be left in his case now as he intends to 'chill out' at home in Warrington following his fifth major TV success in 15 months. As he pointedly said: 'I can't wait to go home and back to normal reality.' It is a richly-deserved week off after managing to add another trophy to his superb CV. He celebrated lifting the Phil Taylor Trophy for the first time by posing for photos on stage with his parents, girlfriend Faith and management. READ MORE DARTS NEWS DARTBREAK Darts power couple Fallon Sherrock and Cameron Menzies split after four years People probably underestimate the mammoth effort it takes to win a darts major these days. Especially in hot and sweaty conditions at the historic Winter Gardens venue and given it was only his second tournament appearance. Given the physical and mental effort required, it is why he normally takes a week off after the top TV events and prefers to forgo the ProTour circuit, which is held behind-closed-doors. Best new sign-up offers SunSport exclusives William Hill: Claim your £60 in free bets - CLAIM HERE* Betfred: Get £50 in free football bets - CLAIM HERE* BetMGM: Get £40 in free bets to spend on football - CLAIM HERE* talkSPORT BET: £30 in free bets are up for grabs - CLAIM HERE* Tote: Grab your £40 welcome bonus - CLAIM HERE* Already have these accounts? Don't worry, we've got loads more terrific deals below! Check out the latest free bets to use on football, horse racing, and lots more. On Tuesday and Wednesday there are two Players Championships in the German city of Hildesheim. Yet there is ZERO chance he will play in them, even though the points would improve his ranking position ahead of the Players Championship Finals at Butlin's Minehead in late November. As it stands, he is ranked joint 11th on the ProTour money list with £132,500 against his name. 5 In his post-final press conference, Littler said he would return to the oche for World Series of Darts trips to Australia (August 8-9) and New Zealand (August 15-16). One journalist asked the teen sensation: 'And then ProTour (on) Tuesday?' Littler feigned mock surprise and said: 'Is there? Is there?' Dave Allen, the PDC Head of Media, injected and said: 'It's in Germany.' Littler, who hails from Warrington, joked 'Is it?' before adding: 'Nah, nah. Maybe if it was Wigan. Maybe.' It was all said in a funny fashion but it showed his intention not to play any events until he flies Down Under. Part of the reason why he would not have fancied a visit to Germany just now is the bad reaction he gets from the fans there. 5 Littler hit a tournament record 64 maximums in his five games last week 5 Luke Littler became the youngest world darts champion, aged 17, when he won the title in January Credit: Reuters When he played in the Berlin Premier League on April 3, he was booed by the German punters. It also happened during the German Darts Grand Prix over Easter in Munich when he was beaten in the semi-finals by Gian van Veen. After that event, emotion got the better of him and he posted on Instagram: 'Shouldn't of been in Munich but had to play anyway, next one in Germany for me is Dortmund and I am glad to say that.' Littler and Luke Humphries teamed up together to play for England at last month's World Cup of Darts and were strong favourites to lift the team title. But they were dumped out of the quarter-finals 8-4 by the German pairing of Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko in Frankfurt. The reception they got was ear-splittingly noisy and winning in Germany is something Littler will have to overcome in the next few years, especially as the country is a powerhouse of the sport.
Daily Mirror
19 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Luke Littler sets sights on Luke Humphries' spot after World Matchplay triumph
Luke Littler is the youngest triple crown champion in darts after beating James Wade in the World Matchplay final and now wants to end the year as the sport's undisputed No 1 Luke Littler has his eye on ending the year as No.1 in the charts and defending his darts world title at Alexandra Palace as top dog by every measurement. After another spellbinding display to win the World Matchplay crown, despite giving James Wade a five-leg head start in the final, Luke the Nuke is on course to top the rankings in the Professional Darts Corporation order of merit before the end of 2025. At 18, Littler is by far the youngest player to win the triple crown - World Championship, Premier League and World Matchplay - and he admits current world No.1 Luke Humphries' perch is now within his sights. But Littler is already the de facto No.1 in all but name. He is the teenage whirlwind responsible for an explosion in prize money, TV rankings, replica shirt and darts sales and participation at grass roots level. His Nukeship is the man to beat at every tournament - and at the Winter Gardens he gave the punters value for money, scrapping through 13-11 against Jermaine Wattimena, 16-14 against Andrew Gilding and 17-14 against Josh Rock before his 18-13 comeback win saw off Wade. Littler nodded: 'I've looked at the rankings provisionally. I'm No.1 for the Worlds if Luke doesn't defend all that prize money - and obviously I don't want him to. 'But we'll just have to find out and try to add more prize money to my ranking. For now, I'm the youngest winner of another major title. At the start of my career I wanted to win one of every major - there's not that many to go now. 'It was in the back of my mind that I hadn't won a trophy for a while every tournament I went into and didn't win, whether that was a European Tour or a ProTour event. 'But now I've picked up another one it's a good feeling and hopefully there will be a few more towards the back of the year. I want to win every major once and then just build on it - get multiple of everything, triple of everything. Once I win one of everything, I won't pack it in.' Among Littler's greatest hits at Blackpool was his tournament record 64 maximum 180s, blowing Adrian Lewis's previous apex of 56 out of the water. He said: 'I played a lot of legs throughout the Matchplay so it's no surprise that I've broken the 180 record.' Littler will take a week off before heading to Australia for the World Series early next month. The next major where he could make a dent in Humphries' lead at the rankings summit is the World Grand Prix in Leicester from October 6-12. He will begin his defence of the world title at Ally Pally, chasing the first £1 million winner's jackpot in darts, on December 11. PDC ORDER OF MERIT: CURRENT RANKINGS Luke Humphries £1,797,750 Luke Littler £1,500,500 Michael van Gerwen £739,750 Stephen Bunting £620,500 James Wade £611,750 Gerwyn Price £533,000 Chis Dobey £520,500 Jonny Clayton £513,750 Rob Cross £505,500 Damon Heta £486,250
