Luke Littler has reached a third successive World Darts Championship final as the reigning world champion beat Ryan Searle 6-1 in the semi-final.
‘The Nuke’ was in red-hot form on the Ally Pally stage as he averaged 105.43 and fired in 10 180s on his way to a comfortable victory after losing the opening set of the game. Littler swiftly hit back as the opening two sets of the game went with the throw as both players attempted to find their best and settle on stage.
But the first major reaction from Littler came when he broke Searle to win the third set after ‘Heavy Metal’ made a mess of his setup, subsequently having to find the bullseye but could only hit the outer bull. Littler returned to check out on tops to take control of the game.
Littler went on to run away with the following sets, steamrolling towards the final averaging over 100 in every sets, including a huge 109.98 in the fourth set. ‘The Nuke’ then checked off another set without dropping a leg in rapid time while averaging 104.86.
The first leg of the following leg saw Littler go eight darts into the perfect leg, but lost the leg as Searle reeled in the Big Fish with a timely 170 checkout. But there was no comeback for ‘Heavy Metal’ as Littler won the match on D20.
Searle bows out of his best World Championship run to date and is now the new world No.8.
However, Littler might have to win back the crowd after he was heavily booed during his entrance. While ‘Heavy Metal’ was cheered on, boos almost drowned out John McDonald calling Littler to the stage. The world No.1 seemed unfazed by the reception as he made his way on stage and applauded the crowd.
Littler has invited more hostile receptions after he hit out at the crowd for booing him during and after his last 16 victory over Rob Cross.
‘The Nuke’ sarcastically thanked supporters for “paying for” his prize money during his on-stage interview following the win. The winners’ prize money has been increased to £1million this year, largely thanks to Littler’s emergence.
Littler will play the winner of Gary Anderson and Gian van Veen in Saturday’s final.