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Telegraph
2 days ago
- Sport
- Telegraph
Luke Littler hits incredible nine-dart finish after ‘perfect leg'
Luke Littler hit a spectacular nine-darter during one of the greatest legs the sport has seen before he booked his place in the World Matchplay final. The 18-year-old world champion had been trailing 6-1 to Josh Rock before he turned on the style to eventually storm to a 17-14 victory. It was the nine-darter, however, that helped turn around his fortunes that will live long in the memory. Rock had also been on track with maximum scores as Blackpool's Winter Gardens were treated to a perfect 15-dart leg. 9-DARTER 🚨 An unbelievable leg of darts from Luke Littler and Josh Rock 🤯 — Sky Sports Darts (@SkySportsDarts) July 26, 2025 Littler celebrated with just a shrug, but commentator Wayne Mardle demonstrated levels of enthusiasm not seen since his 'I can't speak!' viral moment during the famous Michael Smith and Michael van Gerwen nine-darter in 2023. 'That is the second-best leg you will ever see in your life,' said the Sky Sports pundit this time. Littler set up a World Matchplay final against James Wade on Sunday after the incredible leg against Rock who had been in commanding form before the teenager demonstrated his unique ability. 'It definitely sparked me into life. I didn't want to give it big because I was playing awfully,' said Littler, explaining why his celebration afterwards was relatively muted. He added that he had 'no idea' where he summoned such a leg, having been off the pace early on. 'I didn't think about anything,' he said. 'I just knew the route. As soon as that treble 20 went in, I knew what was next. I didn't celebrate because I was still annoyed with myself, but yeah, I think if I gave it a bit of emotion maybe I might have dropped off a bit. But once that nine-darter went in, I picked it up and played a lot better.' A showdown with Wade, 42, now awaits after his 20-18 win over Wales' Jonny Clayton in an epic encounter. Littler could become only the fifth player to win the Triple Crown, after Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson and Luke Humphries. The world champion added: 'I've won many finals and majors but this is the big one now, it all comes down to Sunday.' The nine-darter rivals the demonstration of skill from Smith in the 2023 World Championship final after Van Gerwen just missed with his ninth dart following eight perfect throws. Littler's feat was the 10th nine-darter at the tournament, which started in 1994, and the first this year.
The Independent
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Luke Littler hits nine darter to set up World Matchplay final clash with James Wade
World champion Luke Little survived an early scare to book his first Betfred World Matchplay final after an historic encounter against Josh Rock at Blackpool 's Winter Gardens. The 18-year-old recovered from being 5-0 down in less than 10 minutes to close out a 17-4 win, which included a perfect nine-darter which he admits kick-started his comeback. Twenty-nine 180s was the most in World Matchplay history as Littler, who had 15 of those, finished with a 107.5 average – Rock averaged 104.1 – and is one victory away from becoming only the fifth person to win the Triple Crown of World Championship, World Matchplay and Premier League. 'It was an incredible game. I wasn't happy at 5-0 down, it was a slow start but I picked myself up,' Little told Sky Sports. 'I wouldn't say Josh fell off but those first five legs from him were unbelievable. I just said to myself 'you can do it, you have been here before' – and I've done it again. 'As soon as I got into the lead, I just had to break and hold and get that two-leg advantage which I did and hold my own throw.' On his nine-dart finish – in a leg where Rock had thrown successive 180s to set up a nine-darter himself – he added: 'It definitely sparked me into life. I didn't want to give it big because I was playing awful.' His opponent in the final is James Wade, who admitted he 'hated every minute' of his epic 20-18 win over Jonny Clayton to reach his seventh final. The 42-year-old Englishman, who last won this event 18 years ago, had been 7-2 and 16-10 up and needed just one leg for victory only for his opponent to win six in a row and force extra legs. Clayton then missed two doubles to level at 19-19 and Wade staggered over the line. 'I'm done. I think Jonny just let me off at the last minute – but I let him off before that,' he told Sky Sports. 'I'm exhausted after that. I hoped the crowd here and everyone at home enjoyed themselves because I hated every minute of it.'
Powys County Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- Powys County Times
Luke Littler hits stunning nine-dart finish in semi-final win over Josh Rock
World champion Luke Little survived an early scare to book his first Betfred World Matchplay final after an historic encounter against Josh Rock at Blackpool's Winter Gardens. The 18-year-old recovered from being 5-0 down in less than 10 minutes to close out a 17-4 win, which included a perfect nine-darter which he admits kick-started his comeback. Twenty-nine 180s was the most in World Matchplay history as Littler, who had 15 of those, finished with a 107.5 average – Rock averaged 104.1 – and is one victory away from becoming only the fifth person to win the Triple Crown of World Championship, World Matchplay and Premier League. 9-DARTER 🚨 An unbelievable leg of darts from Luke Littler and Josh Rock 🤯 — Sky Sports Darts (@SkySportsDarts) July 26, 2025 'It was an incredible game. I wasn't happy at 5-0 down, it was a slow start but I picked myself up,' Little told Sky Sports. 'I wouldn't say Josh fell off but those first five legs from him were unbelievable. I just said to myself 'you can do it, you have been here before' – and I've done it again. 'As soon as I got into the lead, I just had to break and hold and get that two-leg advantage which I did and hold my own throw.' On his nine-dart finish – in a leg where Rock had thrown successive 180s to set up a nine-darter himself – he added: 'It definitely sparked me into life. I didn't want to give it big because I was playing awful.' His opponent in the final is James Wade, who admitted he 'hated every minute' of his epic 20-18 win over Jonny Clayton to reach his seventh final. The 42-year-old Englishman, who last won this event 18 years ago, had been 7-2 and 16-10 up and needed just one leg for victory only for his opponent to win six in a row and force extra legs. "I hated every minute of it" 😅 James Wade on his dramatic semi-final against Jonny Clayton — Sky Sports Darts (@SkySportsDarts) July 26, 2025 Clayton then missed two doubles to level at 19-19 and Wade staggered over the line. 'I'm done. I think Jonny just let me off at the last minute – but I let him off before that,' he told Sky Sports. 'I'm exhausted after that. I hoped the crowd here and everyone at home enjoyed themselves because I hated every minute of it.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Littler nine-darter helps him into final with Wade
Luke Littler hit a spectacular nine-darter as he overcame Josh Rock 17-14 to set up a World Matchplay final against James Wade on Sunday. The 18-year-old world champion was trailing 6-1 before completing the feat to deny Rock – who had hit two 180s – the chance to do so himself. With 15 perfect darts, it can lay claim to be the greatest leg in the history of the tournament. "It definitely sparked me into life. I didn't want to give it big because I was playing awfully," said Littler. His fellow Englishman Wade, 42, reached his seventh Matchplay final with a 20-18 win over Wales' Jonny Clayton in an epic encounter on a thrilling night at Blackpool's Winter Gardens. The teenager will aim on Sunday to become only the fifth player to win the Triple Crown, after Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson and Luke Humphries. Littler is looking to seal the treble in little more than a year, eyeing Matchplay glory having won the Premier League in May 2024 before his World Championship triumph in January. "I've won many finals and majors but this is the big one now, it all comes down to Sunday," he said. It will be a repeat of the UK Open final in March, which Littler won 11-2. That prospect looked unlikely as 24-year-old Rock, a World Cup winner with Northern Ireland, came out firing and opened up a 5-0 lead in the first session. But then came Littler's brilliant nine-darter, which evoked memories of darts' greatest leg when Michael Smith did the same in the 2023 World Championship final after Van Gerwen just missed with his ninth dart. "That is the second-best leg you will ever see in your life," said Sky Sports pundit Wayne Mardle. It may have only been greeted with a shrug from Littler but it prompted him into a much-improved performance, and from 8-4 down he won seven of the next eight legs to go 11-9 in front. Rock hit consecutive checkouts of 170 and 120 to close the gap to 14-12 but Littler prevailed in a match where he averaged 107.5 to his opponent's 104.15 and edged the 180 count 15-14. The maximums tally of 29 is a Matchplay record. Earlier, Wade was one leg away from victory at 16-10 before Clayton reeled off six successive legs to force overtime. "I'm just done, I'm exhausted. I hope the crowd here and everyone at home enjoyed themselves, because I hated every minute of it," said Wade. Recap: All the updates as Littler hits nine-darter & Wade wins epic How does the World Matchplay Darts work? Wade wins 38-leg epic against Clayton Wade has made the final six times previously, with his sole win coming 18 years ago. There was little sign of the thriller that was to come as he started his semi-final strongly, taking out the bull for a 161 checkout to open up a 3-1 lead. Clayton repeated the move in the 12th leg but it was only to peg back his opponent at 8-4. Arguably the best player never to win the world championship, Wade remained in control until he was one leg away, then dramatically lost the next six as Clayton drew level at 16-16. Wade could have been forgiven for buckling under Clayton's momentum, but nailed another 161 to edge ahead again and, although his opponent levelled at 17-17 and at 18-18, he finally clinched a memorable victory with sudden death looming. The Englishman edged it 101.79 to 100.97 on the averages, with a 55.6% checkout success rate. World Matchplay Darts semi-final results James Wade 20-18 Jonny Clayton Luke Littler 17-14 Josh Rock Sunday's World Matchplay schedule Women's World Matchplay (13:00 BST) Quarter-finals (best of seven legs) Beau Greaves v Kirsi Viinikainen Lisa Ashton v Robyn Byrne Noa-Lynn van Leuven v Lorraine Winstanley Fallon Sherrock v Gemma Hayter Semi-finals (best of nine legs) Greaves or Viinikainen v Ashton or Byrne Van Leuven or Winstanley v Sherrock or Hayter Final (best of 11 legs, 16:00) Men's Matchplay final (20:15, best of 35 legs) James Wade v Luke Littler
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Luke Littler hits stunning nine-dart finish in semi-final win over Josh Rock
World champion Luke Little survived an early scare to book his first Betfred World Matchplay final after an historic encounter against Josh Rock at Blackpool's Winter Gardens. The 18-year-old recovered from being 5-0 down in less than 10 minutes to close out a 17-4 win, which included a perfect nine-darter which he admits kick-started his comeback. Twenty-nine 180s was the most in World Matchplay history as Littler, who had 15 of those, finished with a 107.5 average – Rock averaged 104.1 – and is one victory away from becoming only the fifth person to win the Triple Crown of World Championship, World Matchplay and Premier League. 'It was an incredible game. I wasn't happy at 5-0 down, it was a slow start but I picked myself up,' Little told Sky Sports. 'I wouldn't say Josh fell off but those first five legs from him were unbelievable. I just said to myself 'you can do it, you have been here before' – and I've done it again. 'As soon as I got into the lead, I just had to break and hold and get that two-leg advantage which I did and hold my own throw.' On his nine-dart finish – in a leg where Rock had thrown successive 180s to set up a nine-darter himself – he added: 'It definitely sparked me into life. I didn't want to give it big because I was playing awful.' His opponent in the final is James Wade, who admitted he 'hated every minute' of his epic 20-18 win over Jonny Clayton to reach his seventh final. The 42-year-old Englishman, who last won this event 18 years ago, had been 7-2 and 16-10 up and needed just one leg for victory only for his opponent to win six in a row and force extra legs. Clayton then missed two doubles to level at 19-19 and Wade staggered over the line. 'I'm done. I think Jonny just let me off at the last minute – but I let him off before that,' he told Sky Sports. 'I'm exhausted after that. I hoped the crowd here and everyone at home enjoyed themselves because I hated every minute of it.'
