Teenage darts sensation Luke Littler has claimed he feels ‘the best he’s felt all tournament’ after dismantling Nathan Aspinall to reach the PDC World Darts Championship semi-finals
Luke Littler believes he feels ‘the best he’s felt all tournament’ after beating Nathan Aspinall to reach a second consecutive PDC World Darts Championship semi-finals.
The 17-year-old dismantled his opponent at the Alexandra Palace on New Year’s Day, beating Aspinall 5-2 with an average of 101.54. Prior to the tournament, it had looked as though Littler would be on course to take on defending champion Luke Humphries in the semi-finals.
However, the latter lost to Peter Wright in the round of 16, who himself fell to Stephen Bunting on New Year’s Day, setting up a semi-final showdown between the latter and Littler on Thursday evening, with the winner set to face one of Michael van Gerwen, or Chris Dobey.
And speaking after his impressive win over Littler, who is seek to return to the final where he lost out to Humphries last year, the teenage darts sensation admits his performance against Aspinall was the best he has played so far during this edition of the World Championships.
“It feels amazing, the perfect start to 2025, and it’s sinking in now: two tournaments, two semi-finals, and a step closer. The only thing in my head now is making that second final,” said Littler in his post-match press conference.
“Overall it was a good performance. We all know Nathan never gives up, but I pinged my doubles when it mattered tonight. From start to finish, that’s the best I’ve felt at this tournament – and hopefully I’ll get the same feeling tomorrow night. There were no nerves tonight – I just enjoyed myself, as I should be doing.”
Littler added: “Everyone saw how I had to dig deep in my first game against Ryan Meikle. And sometimes if you have to win dirty it’s an even better feeling.”
At just 17, Littler will be making his second appearance in the semi-finals of the Worlds when he takes on Bunting at the Alexandra Palace on Thursday night. With Van Gerwen and Littler ranked third and fourth respectively in the PDC’s Order of Merit standings, there is the prospect of a mouth-watering finale set to take place on Friday between the two.
However, despite that talk of a showdown between the pair, Littler knows he still has a to get past Bunting to return to the final a year on from his defeat to Humphries.
Littler said: “If that’s what everyone thinks, that’s fine – but anything can happen in the semi-finals of the World Championship. Stephen and I both know how well we can play against each other so it’s going to be about whoever turns up tomorrow night.”