Luke Littler overcomes early hassle to beat NHS supervisor in World Championship present

Luke Littler had to survive an early scare in his second round victory over David Davies in the World Darts Championship.

‘The Nuke’ didn’t get into his stride early on and was outscored by Davies in the opening three legs, with the Welshman taking a 2-1 lead in legs and throwing to win the opening set.

Davies managed to be first down to a finish but missed five set darts to stun Littler and take the lead against the world champion. But the NHS area manager from Denbigh was unable to take his chances and lost the fourth leg, which he thought had lost him the set as he turned to walk off the stage.

But he was soon walking down the stairs minutes later when Littler made him pay by snatching the opening set from underneath his nose.

All credit to Davies, he continued to battle but Littler flexed his muscles and took the second set 3-1 with an incredible 107.64 average as the world No.1 firmly got his act together.

Davies missed the boat in causing the biggest upset Ally Pally has ever seen as Littler ploughed onwards. But he rallied to win the second leg of the third set after missing the bullseye for a stunning Big Fish checkout.

Littler wrapped up the game with a break of throw to seal the 3-0 victory. But the game could have played out completely differently had Davies taken his early chances at the outer ring.

‘The Nuke’ averaged 97.15 in the match and hit four 180s, hitting nine of 19 attempts to the double. Davies will hold his head high after averaging 95.53, but he hit just four of 20 attempts at the outer ring.

The 40-year-old guaranteed £25,000 for winning his first round match against Mario Vandenbogaerde on debut. Following the win, he quipped he might have to take the second round match against Littler unpaid after using up most of his annual leave.

Meanwhile, Littler will play Mensur Suljovic in the third round after the Austrian beat Joe Cullen earlier on Sunday.

Elsewhere, Gerwyn Price was dumped out of the tournament after he was beaten 3-0 by Wesley Plaisier. Price had two darts to save the match and win the third set at D20, but missed his opportunity.

Price actually averaged more than Plaisier, notching a three dart average of 95.83 to the world No.92’s 94.28. The ‘Iceman’ also hit three 180s, one more than Plaisier.

But the 2023 WDF World Cup winner found his darts at the right time, checking out nine of his 16 attempts at the double, at 56.25 per cent. Compared to Price’s four from 10 at 40 per cent.