Luke Littler frustration clear as Sky Sports cameras seize his true emotions forward of ultimate
Luke Littler is one win away from becoming the first man to retain the World Darts Championship title since Gary Anderson in 2015 and 2016
Luke Littler is on the hunt for consecutive World Darts Championship titles after securing his spot in a third successive final, defeating Ryan Searle 6-1 on Friday evening. The reigning champion is now just one match away from becoming the first man to retain the Sid Waddell trophy since Gary Anderson’s back-to-back wins in 2015 and 2016.
However, Littler’s initial set wasn’t smooth sailing, as he fell behind for the first time in the entire tournament when Searle clinched the opener – and his frustration was palpable. As the teenager exited the stage, Sky Sports cameras captured him seemingly mouthing a few irate words.
After losing the first set 3-2, Littler looked up and seemed to mouth an expletive in frustration. It was far from the perfect start for Littler, despite him posting a higher average in the opening set – 105.00 to Searle’s 94.50.
After the break, the match quickly became one-sided. ‘The Nuke’ wasted no time in turning the game around, winning the second set 3-1 – producing a three-figure average, while Searle could only muster 90.62.
Despite early struggles on the doubles, Littler rectified this in the second set by hitting three of his four checkout attempts.
The fourth set saw Littler dominate, taking control of the match and dealing Searle an unfamiliar blow, with ‘Heavy Metal’ having never trailed at this year’s World Championship.
The advantage quickly expanded to 3-1, powered by a scorching 110.0 average. The onslaught continued relentlessly – at 5-1, the 18-year-old sent the audience into raptures by landing a spectacular 170 checkout, famously dubbed the big fish.
“It feels good to reach the final, I’ve joined another short list of names of players who have had back-to-back-to-back finals,” said Littler. “Now, the only goal is to join the list of people who are back-to-back World Champions.
“I’ve got every right to think I can do it, but I never, ever say that I am going to win it. We will just see how the darts go.
“I know Gian very well from the Development Tour, we have met a few times on the ProTour and I got the win over him in Minehead in my first World Youth Championship [final in 2023].
“He is in absolute freedom, he’s now in the top four of the world – I don’t think he has much to lose.”
This year’s winner will pocket a record-breaking £1million prize.
