It’s been a long night, so it’s probably time to wrap this blog up. Thanks as always for your company and emails. We’ll be back tomorrow for the dream final none of us had even considered until a week ago: Luke Littler v Luke Humphries, aka the irresistible force versus the irresistible force. See you then.
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Luke Littler is inspiring the same generation, never mind the next one
This is too good
5 years ago... 🔙
— Sky Sports Darts (@SkySportsDarts) January 2, 2024
Your 2024 World Darts Championship Finalists 📷 pic.twitter.com/MZKAcj0Rkb
Luke Humphries' reaction
I would never have imagined myself to be world No1 – that is a special, special feeling. I was really pleased with that performance. But as I’ve said in many interviews: world No1 can last a couple of months, world champion is forever. I’ve got a really, really tough task tomorrow.
I felt great in yesterday’s game and in the practice room. I hadn’t put in a statement performance [before the quarter-final] and a lot of people probably thought I didn’t stand a chance after the first couple of games, which is fair enough, but I’ve come back well and I’m really excited to play in my first world final.
I’ve seen how good Luke [Littler] is many, many times. But when you come up on this stage it can become a lot toughter. He’s just got a lot of bottle. Nothing’s gonna faze him. If he plays like that again I probably need to play the game of my life. I hope we give the fans one of the best world finals anyone’s ever seen.
"I'm probably going to have to play the game of my life!" 💥
— Sky Sports Darts (@SkySportsDarts) January 2, 2024
What a final we have in store! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/cwFpkDjT47
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Tomorrow night, there will be a new world darts champion for the fifth time in seven years. Before that there were six new world champions in the first 24 years of the PDC – and four of those had already won the BDO title.
It’s been the most open period in modern darts history. Enjoy it, because the two Lukes may ensure it’s a while before we see another new champion.
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Humphries’s final average was 108.74, the highest in this year’s tournament. He hit six ton-plus finishes, 14 180s and 60 per cent of his doubles. In statistical terms, devoid of context, it was even better than Luke Littler’s performance. I don’t care who wins tomorrow; just let them maintain that standard please.
Luke Humphries beats Scott Williams 6-0!
Luke Humphries hits double 10 to complete a majestic performance and set up a final with Luke Littler. He was the best player in the world in 2023; he’s now the world No1. Only a 16-year-old can stop him becoming world champion for the first time.
What a performance from Luke Humphries to win 5-0 and secure his spot in the World Darts Championship final! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/cPHgeie6UH
— Sky Sports Darts (@SkySportsDarts) January 2, 2024
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Humphries breaks! Williams 0-5 Humphries (legs 1-2) Williams busts 126 on D6 and is punished by Humphries, who will now throw for a 6-0 victory.
Williams 0-5 Humphries (legs 1-1) Humphries breaks Williams with a 13-darter to move within two legs. Williams breaks back in 11, an outstanding effort in the face of certain defeat. Paradoxically, Williams is enhancing his reputation while being whitewashed. His head hadn’t dropped at all.
Match report: Rob Cross 2-6 Luke Littler
Jonathan Liew has the abundant pleasure of being at Alexandra Palace to watch Luke Littler at work. Here’s his report.
“If both Lukes maintain the standard they met today,” says Gregory Phillips, “one or two missed doubles on throw at two legs all here and there might be the only difference between them.”
The treble 20 bed will need to be replaced after about three sets.
“Curiously enough,” says Phil Sawyer, “over the festive period someone sent me a picture of my teenage self rocking a quiff and leather jacket with a bottle of Jack Daniels in one hand, a can of Budweiser in the other, and a pack of Marlboro Reds and a can of Special Brew on the side. Can’t think where it all began to go wrong...”
Clearly you didn’t eat enough ham and cheese omelettes.
Humphries is averaging 110.56. If he maintains that – not that you can really maintain a darts average - it’ll be the fourth highest in World Championship history. The record is MvG’s 114.05 when he demolished Barney (who himself averaged 109.34) in the 2017 semi-final.
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Humphries wins the fifth set!
Williams 0-5 Humphries (legs 0-3) Humphries takes out another ton-plus finish, 121 this time, to move within one set of his first World Championship final. Williams walks off for the break, looks to his family and makes the universal gesture for “What the eff am I supposed to do about that?”
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Humphries breaks!
Williams 0-4 Humphries (legs 0-2) Luke Humphries will become world No1 for the first time if he wins tonight. If indeed. He’s hammering Williams, who to his credit hasn’t thrown the towel in. There’s no shame in losing to this performance. It’s been a life-changing tournament for Williams, during which he has taken a shortcut into the top 32 in the world.
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“Only just realised there was a live blog of the darts,” says Phil Sawyer. “Forgive me if this point has already been made, but what struck me after the first set was how Littler stayed on stage to keep throwing darts. I think he was giving himself some space to get adjusted to the atmosphere. If so, ye gods how it worked. Just an amazing talent.”
Never mind the talent, his clarity of thought and equilibrium are frankly insulting to the memory of our 16-year-old selves. At different stages in this tournament he has motioned to both the crowd and his family to calm down.
"Keep Littler away from the Premier League?” sniffs Simon McMahon. “He could do a job at Man United, surely?”
That shouldn’t have made me laugh as much as it did.
Humphries wins the fourth set!
Williams 0-4 Humphries (legs 2-3) Humphries wins the set on D2, his fifth dart at a double. Williams was heavily outscored again, though he did have one dart at D10.
Humphries is just too good right now – for Williams and for everyone else in the world darts, with one possible exception.
Luke Humphries just cannot miss! 🤯
— Sky Sports Darts (@SkySportsDarts) January 2, 2024
He makes it 4-0! 😲 pic.twitter.com/EFB6YU99uB
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Williams 0-3 Humphries (legs 2-2) Wiliams is performing at his tournament level: 97 average, 50 per cent on the doubles. But Humphries is reaching MvG v Barney 2017 levels and has just finished 305 in six darts to put Williams under all kinds of pressure in the deciding leg. If he doesn’t hold throw, it’s over.
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“Steve Winwood was 14 when he joined the Spencer Davis Group,” says Roger Kirkby. “At 15 he was singing this… A man’s voice in a child’s body.”
“I think Scott Williams is a good barometer for how they should treat Luke Littler,” writes Lindsay Went. “If Williams was to win today but not tomorrow, they wouldn’t put him in the Premier League. But if he won the title they would have no choice. The world champion has to play the Premier League. Same for Luke.”
I suppose you’re right, but I do worry about what it might do to him – not so much on the oche as off it. I keep thinking back to Sven-Goran Eriksson’s comments about Wayne Rooney in his last press conference as England manager. I know there are differences – Littler hasn’t stamped on another man’s knackers for a start, at least not literally – but there are plenty of similiarties too. And we did kill Rooney.
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Humphries wins the third set!
Williams 0-3 Humphries (legs 2-3) My word, we were so nearly back on throw. Williams dominated the deciding leg on the Humphries throw and missed bull for a 123. Humphries came back to take out 126 on the bull; that’s a devastating finish.
Williams 0-2 Humphries (legs 2-2) Williams, throwing to stay in the set and probably the match, kicks off by going for a no-look 180. He doesn’t manage it but holds in 14 darts.
Humphries almost took out 308 in six darts: 3xT18, then 2xT19 and a miss on D16.
Williams 0-2 Humphries (legs 1-1) That’s an admirable response from Williams, who hits two D19s to take out 98 with Humphries waiting on 20 for a break. Williams is playing perfectly well; trouble is Humphries is playing obscenely well.
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“The first person I usually think of when I think of a precocious genius is Bobby Fischer who won the US Chess championship for the first time at the age of 14,” writes J.R. in Illinous. “And he later defeated all the Russians who were allied against him to win the World Championship.
“Let’s just hope that after Luke wins the World Championship he doesn’t get all his fillings removed to prevent the Russians from using radio waves to get into his brain and then, when asked what he’s going to do when all his teeth fall out, says ‘I’ll gum it.’”
I do worry about what happens next, whatever the result tomorrow. I hope he’s kept away from the Premier League, for example.
Humphries takes out 170!
Williams 0-2 Humphries (legs 0-1) He didn’t even need to go for it, but why wouldn’t you when you’re hitting everything. He has just started the next leg with five perfect darts as well.
“Sport parcels out a life doesn’t it Rob?” writes Gary Naylor. “As a teenager, I played darts against my mother at home (two 180s, a day apart, and an education in mental arithmetic) and, years later, went to the Ally Pally with her and Lynn Bashforth and Carrie Dunn. She would have been T20, D13 last week, but checked out a few years ago. She loved Jocky and she’d have liked the kid too.”
That’s so true. Not just family it applies to, either: it has always made me sad that Sid Waddell wasn’t around to commentate on Michael van Gerwen’s explosion in 2012, never mind this kid.
Humphries wins the second set!
Williams 0-2 Humphries (legs 0-3) Oh yes, yes, yes. Humphries takes out 136 for another break and a clean sweep on the Williams throw. His average in that set was 118.66. He started this tournament slowly and dodged several bullets against Ricardo Pietreczko and Joe Cullen, but in the last 36 hours he has looked almost unbeatable. Almost.
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Williams 0-1 Humphries (legs 0-2) Humphries is playing magnificently and has just finished 121 to move within a leg of the second set. The early signs that this is a bridge too far for Scott Williams.
Humphries wins the first set!
Williams 0-1 Humphries (legs 2-3) It’s on throw, so nothing for Scott Williams to worry about yet, but he’ll be frustrated because he broke in the first leg of the match. Humphries’ set average was 109.77. If he maintains that standard the final tomorrow will be Luke v Luke, irresistible force v irresistible force.
“I once averaged 100, Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “After three darts. Much like I was once on a 147 break, but missed the first black. These guys are utterly astonishing. Littler, O’Sullivan, Pele, Tyson, Becker, Comâneci. An absolute privilege to watch.”
I don’t think we’ll truly understand what he’s achieved until the year 2044, and some of us will be dead by then. Thing is, in isolation, you could make a case for him winning all the other games, because the draw was very kind to him. Andrew Gilding, the world No20, was the highest-ranked player. But tonight he marmalised the world No8, who’d been playing his best darts at Ally Pally since becoming world champion six years ago.
Cross started brilliantly, too, but Littler wore him down with the ruthlessness of peak Phil Taylor and the dizzying speed of peak Michael van Gerwen. Cross’s best darts were no match for Littler’s beast darts.
Williams 0-0 Humphries (legs 1-1) A break apiece to start the second semi-final. Both have settled: as I type Williams is averaging 102, Humphries 107.
“Is it just that this lad is devoid of nerves?” says Denis Loretto.
I suppose he has a helluva muscle memory, having been throwing darts of some kind since he was about 18 months old. What’s fascinating is that his averages at the worlds are higher than on the development tour. It’s not unusual to see players who play their best when the going is at its toughest. But not when they’re sixbloodyteen.
Scott Williams and Luke Humphries are on stage. I’m afraid I missed the walk-ons as I was trying to transcribe Littler’s interview. It might just be set by set for the first half an hour or so, because my eyes have glazed over. Anyway, Humphries will throw first.
Luke Littler’s reaction
The main boy is on the Sky Sports balcony, trying to make sense of it all.
No words [laughs softly]. It’s crazy to even think I’m in a World Championship final on my debut. I was happy winning one game, now I could nearly go all the way. [It looks easy. Is it?] No! You’re playing Rob, he’s a former world champion. He won it on debut, same as me... I’ve got no words!
At the end he said, ‘God bless, I respect you. Do it.’ When I got here my ambition was just to win my first-round game, that was it. I heard rumours that Christian [Kist, his first-round opponent] was struggling with an injury but I just blocked that out and had a 106 average in that game.
After that my target was to [beat Andrew Gilding in the second round], spend Christmas with the family and then come back to London. Now here I am in the final.
I’ve settled on that stage. It takes me a few legs to get into a game, but once I find my rhythm I’m good to go.
[You’re in the top 32 in the world now. Are you aware of how high you can go tomorrow?] No. [He’d be ranked No9.]
[How do you control your emotions?] I just have to stay focussed throughout the game, no matter how long it goes on. I learned in the Andrew Gilding game: I went 2-0 up and let all my emotions out, then we came back after the break and he won the set 3-0. From now on if I go two or three sets clear I’ll compose myself.
When I lost the first set I said to my family, there’s still five, six, seven, maybe even more sets to go. Yeah.
[Will your approach change tomorrow for such a big game?] I’ll just do what I’ve been doing! In the morning I’ll still go for my ham and cheese omelette, then come here, have my pizza and go to the practice board. That’s what I’ve done for every game.
I always say that whichever Luke Littler turns up will decide the result. I threw well tonight and I won the game.
"I was happy winning one game" 😅
— Sky Sports Darts (@SkySportsDarts) January 2, 2024
Luke Littler is left speechless after making it to the World Championship final on debut! 😲 pic.twitter.com/oYJZNmMvQJ
"Just do what I've been doing, in the morning have my ham and cheese omelette" 🥚
— Sky Sports Darts (@SkySportsDarts) January 2, 2024
How calm is Luke Littler? 😅 pic.twitter.com/1h0R2Stddl
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Littler averaged 106.05 to Cross 102.77 – but in three of the last five sets, when the pressure should have been at its highest, he averaged in excess of 110.
Littler’s averages on the development tour last year were often in the 90s. That’s partly because of the shorter format, but tonight proved beyond any doubt that he plays better as the stakes get higher and the opposition get better. That’s pretty terrifying for the rest of the dart-throwing universe.
Cross 2-6 Littler (legs 2-3) Littler finishes the match on D10, of course he does, and looks to the heavens with a slightly sheepish expresson on his face. Cross smiles with genuine warmth and embraces the kid who has just battered him from pillar to post.
SIMPLY INCREDIBLE! 💥
— Sky Sports Darts (@SkySportsDarts) January 2, 2024
Luke Littler is into the final of the World Darts Championship! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/zlhvVISrFb
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LUKE LITTLER BEATS ROB CROSS 6-2
We’ve never seen the like. We haven’t even seen the vaguely reminiscent. Luke Littler has produced the performance of his or anyone else’s life to pulverise a former world champion in brilliant form. That’s in the top 10 performances in darts history, by anyone of any age.
The respect between Rob Cross and Luke Littler 🤝❤️ pic.twitter.com/KtFsmAf7Vk
— Sky Sports Darts (@SkySportsDarts) January 2, 2024
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Cross 2-5 Littler (legs 2-2) Cross hangs on again, hitting D18 for a 13-darter. He’s done very little wrong tonight.
Now Littler is throwing for a place in the World Championship final.
Cross 2-5 Littler (legs 1-2) Littler is one set away from glory beyond his wildest dreams! He takes out D8 for a 13-darter, having already missed one at double, and Rob Cross has the purest view from the precipice. He’s averaging 102 in the match, and he has been battered.
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Cross 2-5 Littler (legs 1-1) Cross stays alive with a 14-dart hold, yet even then Littler has a dart at D12 to break. Cross has spent the last hour on a spin cycle.
Littler takes out 132!
Cross 2-5 Littler (legs 0-1) If you’re a budding darts player, I would advise you to take up snooker. There’s nothing here for you, not for the next 30 years.
Littler has just held throw by taking 132 with two bulls and double 16. There’s nothing left to say.
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The players are back after the break. Littler has the darts in the eighth set. Three holds of throw and he is in the World Championship final.
Littler averaged 114.17 in the seventh set. I’m sorry, this is obscene. Cross, the man who has made his fortune grinding more obviously talented players down, started this game flawlessly and was throwing for a 2-0 lead in sets. Littler sulked for about five seconds, then went into overdrive. Since that moment he has won 16 legs to Cross’s 8.
The word ‘unprecedented’ is wholly inadequate to describe what we’re watching.
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“Hi Rob,” says Matt Burtz. “This is the only clip anyone ever needs when the sound of potential booing comes up.”
Littler wins the seventh set!
Cross 2-5 Littler (legs 1-3) Luke Littler is one set away from a World Championship final. He is playing astonishingly well, and I haven’t a clue what to say. Even after making a Horlicks of 87, he holds throw comfortably. Cross walks off and pulls a funny face. He is the king of miraculous comebacks; this is surely beyond him.
Littler breaks and is throwing for a 5-2 lead!
Cross 2-4 Littler (legs 1-2) Littler is pulverising Cross with the relentlessness of his treble-hitting. He misses two at D18 for a break, but Cross is on 170 and gets nowhere. Littler has the [redacted] to split double 16 so that he can throw at his beloved D10 – and he hits it first dart. My word.
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Cross 2-4 Littler (legs 1-1) The speed of this game is dizzying for your humble liveblogger, so goodness knows how Cross feels. He’s back on 287 when Littler bulldozes his way to another 12-darter. He’s playing astoundingly well; it’s his best performance of the competition by a mile.
“I actually left the footy coverage for your breathless dart-based prose and I know you’re busy and all that,” says Shane O’Leary, “but I will lean in and ask you to ask the millions of people hanging on your every word... why not ask the guv’ of your local ‘Can we have a dartboard?’
“PS; I have scored 180 twice. Totally ratted on both occasions; First up, The Farmers in Purley, playing doubles, I ask my mate ‘Whatta we need?’ he says ‘A lot’. I bang out the 180 and jig around ‘Y’see that, Mike, eh, eh, eh?’ He is not impressed, ‘Bust, ya radge.’
“Second... last year, grudge match in my shed, playing Killer and I am only open on trebles, my oppo’ is ahead and delighted to point out that I need three treble twenties and he needs one treble anything. I fluke the 180 and leap into the air with the traditional ‘In your face’ victory speech, land badly, gash my knee on a stray nail, lashings of blood and medicinal Calvados all round. Wot larks.”
Cross 2-4 Littler (legs 1-0) Littler misses the bull for a 132 and a break, though the first 25 was a horrible blocker. Cross turns to his best friend, D18, and gives him a big pointy hug.
The averages in the sixth set
Cross 91.58
Littler 107.13
Cross is the man who breaks his opponent’s will; now a 16-year-old could be doing it to him.
Littler wins the sixth set and leads 4-2!
Cross 2-4 Littler (legs: 1-3) Littler misses tops for the set, only for Cross to miss two at D16. Littler calmly takes a drink, ignores the ‘Luuuuuuuuuuuke’ chants and goes out with his second dart.
Cross 2-3 Littler (legs: 1-2) Littler’s scoring and cover-shooting are phenomenal. He misses D8 for a 130, which he set up with two more laser-focussed T19s. Cross is back in the 200s and Littler completes another 13-darter. This is wonderful.
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Cross 2-3 Littler (legs: 1-1) Cross starts with five perfect darts, on his own throw, yet he still almost loses the leg. Littler misses two at tops for a break; Cross returns for a 13-darter. He’s back in this game, just about, and the next three legs could be pivotal.
Cross 2-3 Littler (legs: 0-1) Another 180 for Littler, who leaves tops after 12 and completes a 13-dart hold.
“I hope we all appreciate what we’re seeing,” says Gregory Phillips, “because we’ll never get to watch Luke Littler in his maiden worlds again, before life and darts and being 17 can grind him down.”
That’s a great point. It was the same with Kevin Pietersen in 2004-05. He’ll become a more accomplished player, but he’ll never be as exhilarating to watch as he is right now.
The match averages
Cross 104.25
Littler 102.29
Cross wins the fifth set!
Cross 2-3 Littler (legs: 3-2) Littler misses a dart at tops for the set and Cross takes out 60 in two darts. There’s no celebration, just an almost melancholy sigh of relief. By heaven he needed that. I wonder if that Littler dart at tops will be his equivalent of MvG’s D16 to go 5-2 up against Phil Taylor in the 2013 final.
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Cross 1-3 Littler (2-2) The ebb and flow of this game – sometimes subtle, sometimes a sledgehammer to the noggin – is a joy. Cross smashes a 180 on the Littler throw but Littler is still first to a finish: 132 after nine. He sets up a shot at the bull and then politely declines, hitting 18 to leave D16.
Cross pressures it by leaving 62. Littler misses all three at double – but then Cross misses two of his own and Littler does the necessary for a crucial 16-darter. Now Cross is throwing for the set. If he loses this deciding leg he’ll be in all sorts.
Cross 1-3 Littler (2-1) Cross has stemmed the tide for now. He almost takes out 144 on D18 but has time to return and clean up.
Cross breaks back!
Cross 1-3 Littler (1-1) This is currently, by a distance, the best performance of Littler’s life. He hits a 12th 180 to take his average above 106 – but it’s the context of the performance, from being on the cusp of going 2-0 down, that makes it so special.
Littler’s monstrous scoring means he can afford a couple of missed darts at double. But then he misses again on his next visit and Cross, who was 202 points behind at one stage, takes out 138: T18 T18 D15. Littler nods respectfully and congratulates Cross.
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Littler breaks again!
Cross 1-3 Littler (0-1) This is amazing. Littler hits two more maximums, his 10th and 11th of the match, to set up a 12-dart break on D8. At the moment he is taking an in-form Rob Cross to the cleaners.
There’s a break before the fifth set. Talking of great timing, Cross declining a shot at the bull in the fourth set brought to mind this glorious piece of commentary from Wayne Mardell.
Cross averaged 114.47 in that set and lost it. Littler averaged 112.28 and hit all three darts at double.
Cross’s match average is 108.16, Littler’s 103.88. He has the timing of a masmter opportunist like John Part.
Littler wins the fourth set and leads 3-1!
Cross 1-3 Littler (legs 2-3) Luke Littler storms into a 3-1 lead with a nerveless 11-darter. It was a stunning leg of darts.
Littler 140
Cross 180
Littler 140
Cross 180 (on a nine-darter)
Littler 140 to leave 41 after nine
Cross misses T19 with his first dart and leaves 78 after nine
Littler hits single 9, takes a breath and pins D16 with a dart to spare.
He is utterly astonishing.
Cross 1-2 Littler (legs 2-2) The speed of this match is dizzying. Cross, who looks to be getting over his mini-slump, takes us to a deciding leg with a calm 14-darter.
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Littler takes out 149!
Cross 1-2 Littler (legs 1-2)
Littler’s first two visits are trebleless, allowing Cross to take the darts. This time he does go for the bull with Littler on 149 – but he misses and Littler returns to punish him with a devastating finish!
It’s only a hold, but it’ll feel like a break to both players.
Cross 1-2 Littler (legs 1-1) Hello! Cross declines a shot at the bull with Littler on 164. He has done it before, yesterday in fact, as he doesn’t love the bull, but it’s a helluva risk to take.
And it pays off. Littler doesn’t get a shot at double and Cross holds on D16.
Cross 1-2 Littler (legs 0-1) A brutal 11-dart hold from Littler, who has won six of the last seven legs. He’s pummelling Cross from pillar to post. I’d love to see his average since he had that mini-tantrum in the second set: I suspect it’s around 110.
Incidentailly, when Littler went that set-winning double, the crowd chanted “Luuuuuuuke” in the Joe Root/Ruud van Nistelrooy. As Wayne Mardle says on Sky, it sounds like they’re booing him. Not that it affected him, mind.
Littler wins the third set and leads 2-1
Cross 1-2 Littler (legs 1-3) And now he’s in front! Both players missed darts at double, two in Littler’s case, before Littler returned to take out D10 with his first dart. Moments ago he was facing a 2-0 deficit; now he’s 2-1 up and has the darts in this set.
Cross 1-1 Littler (legs 1-2) A comfortable and much-needed hold for Cross. Now Littler is throwing to take the set against the darts.
Cross 1-1 Littler (legs 0-2) The mood has changed big time at Ally Pally; suddenly Luke Littler is rampant! With Cross miles back, Littler takes out a spectacular 142 (T17, T17, tops) for a 12-dart hold.
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Littler breaks!
Cross 1-1 Littler (legs 0-1) Cross’s average – above 110 at some stage – is starting to regress towards the mean. And he’s just been broken again! Littler made a bit of a pig’s ear of taking out 145 with six darts, but Cross missed two at double and Littler punished him. He’s in front for the first time in the match.
“Tell Joe Pearson that he could very easily be watching the darts,” writes JR in Illinois, who knows of what he speaks: he often emails about the darts during football MBMs. “For about $7 he could get a three day pass on PDC-TV and watch the semis today and the final tomorrow. I pay about $75 for a year-long subscription and it’s a great deal.”
“Tim Wheeler was 16 when he wrote Girl From Mars,” weeps Matt Dony. “That’s pretty much my barometer for precocious-yet-endearing-youthful-genius. Tim, meet Luke. Luke, this is Tim. You both make me hate myself, but in a truly euphoric way.”
Tbf, don’t all 16-year-olds make you hate yourself? All humans? Living things?
That was a marvellous response from Littler to the first serious adversity he’s experienced in this tournament. Cross, playing superbly, broke and was throwing for a 2-0 lead. Littler had a very brief sulk and then hit 13- and 14-darters to take the set. Philip Douglas Taylor at his peak would have been proud of the mental strength Littler showed there.
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Littler wins the second set!
Cross 1-1 Littler (legs 2-3)
Cross leaves 170 after nine, Littler leaves 74 after 12. Cross misses with his second dart at T20, which kiboshes the big fish, and Littler returns to win the set on D10!
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Key event
Littler breaks back!
Cross 1-0 Littler (legs 2-2) Littler isn’t coping well with the pressure of being behind; you’d think he was a kid or something. He pulls another dart into single 5 and waves his hand in frustration, suggesting there is a breeze blowing across the stage.
Even then, he’s first to a finish thanks to an autopilot 180. He can’t take out 164, which gives Cross a poke at 86. This is huge… and Cross misses the bull to win the set!
Littler comes back to hit D12 straight away and now he’s throwing for the set. That is some recovery because he was all over the place mentally at the start of the leg.
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Cross breaks!
Cross 1-0 Littler (legs 2-1) Cross nicks the darts with back-to-back 140s and Littler can’t respond in kind. Cross leaves 36 after 12, and Littler hits just 39 when he needs 150.
Cross misses three at double, including two at his favourite D18. But Littler’s first dart is a bounce-out, which means he can’t take out 111. Cross splits to leave D4 and pins it. He’s throwing for a two-set lead. More pertinently, he’s averaging 110 in this set to Littler’s 90.
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Cross 1-0 Littler (legs 1-1) Early days, I know, but Cross is playing as well as he did when he demolished Phil Taylor in the 2018 final. He takes out an 81 combination for an emphatic 11-dart hold. These are dangerous moments for Littler.
Cross 1-0 Littler (legs 0-1) Littler can’t afford to lose throw in this set, not against somebody as ruthless as Cross.
A 180 from Cross makes him the first to a finish on the Littler throw. Littler hits a 180 of his own to leave 12, Cross misses the bull for 167 and Littler hits D3 for a 14-darter. Sheesh. Even at this early stage, he needed that.
“Evening Rob,” says Matt Emerson. “This morning, my wife uttered a phrase I’d never thought she’d say. No, not that, it was: ‘Is the darts on tonight?’
“As to a comparison with other sports, I think Tyson is very apt, but the one I thought of was Boris Becker when he won Wimbledon. He’d won Queens just before but was regarded as one to watch. Let’s hope Luke has as good a career whilst avoiding some of Boris’s other exploits…”
First set averages
Cross 108.67
Littler 103.18
Yeah, it’s a pretty decent standard.
Cross wins the first set 3-2
Luke Littler is behind in sets for the first time at the World Championship. He didn’t do much wrong, but Rob Cross was immaculate on his own throw and didn’t give Littler a dart at double.
In the deciding leg he left 32 after 12 darts. Littler put the pressure on with a maximum to leave 66 – but Cross hit D16 with his first dart. He has started the match intimidatingly well. In fact he had no trebleless visits in that set; Littler had six.
Rob Cross keeps his cool and takes the first set of this semi-final 🎯 pic.twitter.com/LRVjbStfv1
— Sky Sports Darts (@SkySportsDarts) January 2, 2024
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Cross 0-0 Littler (legs 2-2) Cross misses two darts to break, and win the set, and Littler calmly pins 76 with his only dart at tops. Now, suddenly, Cross is throwing to save the set.
Cross 0-0 Littler (legs 2-1) Cross rams in his first 180, which Littler follows with a 140. Both men players have started quite superbly, with a fledgling average in excess of 110. Cross hits D8 for a superb 12-darter, with Littler waiting on 120-odd.
Littler hasn’t been behind in sets at any stage in this tournament.
Cross 0-0 Littler (legs 1-1) Littler barrels in the first 180 of the match, then leaves 170 after nine. He almost takes it out, hitting two trebles before pulling a dart at the bull into single 16. That would have been preposterous.
Cross doesn’t get a shot from 121 and Littler returns to split 34 and take out D10, last dart in hand. A 15-dart hold apiece.
“Littler’s ‘now I’m dreaming about winning it’ comment after making the last four is what makes me think he’s maybe not going to,” says Simon McMahon. “Don’t think about it, Luke! He’s so good, but so young. I just don’t know. 6-4 Cross is my prediction, for what it’s worth.”
Cross 0-0 Littler (legs 1-0) Cross starts this mighty match with a steady ton. Littler hits T5 with his first dart. Nervous? No: the next four darts, across two visits, are all treble 20s. Cross leaves 40 after 12 darts, Littler 45 (yes, he did leave 170) – and Cross hits tops, last dart in hand, for a 15-dart hold.
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Cross has the darts in the first set. That’s the first time Littler hasn’t won the bull, I think, and could be significant if Cross gets in front.
“The Littler story is interesting enough that I sought out the audio on TalkSport,” writes Joe Pearson. “No TV in the US, because darts. I’ll be listening and following your commentary. Should be fun!”
It’s starting to grow in the US, I think, and Alex Spellman looked a good player in his defeat to Ryan Joyce.
The walk-ons
It’s almost time for business. First up is Luke Littler, to Greenlight by Pitbull. He looks a bit nervous, then spots somebody in fancy dress [edit: it’s the Warrington Wolves mascot] and breaks into a big smile. By the time he gets on stage he looks entirely at home, waving his arms and conducting the crowd.
It's time! ⌚
— Sky Sports Darts (@SkySportsDarts) January 2, 2024
Luke Littler is LOVING IT out there! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/EYmgfeH8WT
Rob Cross is booed even before his name is announced. I really hope this doesn’t descend into one of those games. As for walk-on music, he’s a Merrymen man.
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The Sky pundits, Wayne Mardle and Mark Webster, have both gone for Littler to win 6-4. Imagine if you’d said that a month ago; you’d have been laughed out of the kebab shop.
“Watching Littler has felt like watching Mike Tyson in 1986, so much potential being realised almost too fast,” says Gregory Phillips. “And beyond his absurd talent, the amount of poise he has shown so far is ridiculous.
“He’s already proved he can do it on the big stage, and repeatedly. Curious to see what happens when someone goes toe-to-toe with him, and yet somehow we might not even get to see that this year.”
I like the Tyson comparison – Cris Freddi, the best sports historian I’ve ever read, said a similar thing after the Barney game. Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the treble 20.
That said, I think Cross will grind him down tonight, possibly after a flying start from Littler.
“Quasimodo, Rob (preamble)?” says Harvey Mayne. “You don’t mean Nostradamus by any chance do you?”
You mean the Hunchback of Nostradamus?
After beating Brendan Dolan, Luke Littler spoke with an admirable lack of false modesty about his chances of winning the worlds. But his comments about the media scrutiny being “a bit too much” should give us all pause.
That’s the thing about child prodigies: we’re people pleasers to a fault. Honk. But seriously, folks, this isn’t the optimum time in human history to be a teenage prodigy.
The world’s changing, music’s changing, even darts is changing. You can’t sit in here all day dreaming about heroin and Ziggy Pop
The combined total of career professional matches played by each year's WC semifinalists against Phil Taylor:
— Christopher Kempf (@ochepedia) January 2, 2024
2019 - 136
2020 - 99
2021 - 104
2022 - 182
2023 - 77
2024 - 1
If you’re into the minutiae of darts – and if you’re not, get out of my sight – Christopher Kempf’s Twitter feed is a dopamine valley.
“I’m slightly concerned,” writes Eddy in Ottawa, “at the sheer number of clothes in my wardrobe that are older than Luke Littler (along with several pieces of tech i own, and that can of 5-bean salad at the back of the cupboard that I’m too scared to remove).”
Whisky connoisseurs have no such concerns. Cheers!
The semi-finals are the best of 11 sets. To win a set you need to win three legs. It’s pretty much as simple as that, unless the match goes to a deciding set.
In that case you have to win by two clear legs – unless it goes to 5-5 in legs, in which case the 11th leg of the 11th set will be sudden death. Confused? Excellent, now all I need are your postcode and the three digits on the back of the card.
Just wake up, play on my Xbox, have some food, have a chuck on the board and go to bed
Things that make you feel old, part 7415419
When this song came into the world, Littler was two days old
Luke Littler: the backstory
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the World Darts Championship semi-finals at Alexandra Palace, Looooooondon. It was supposed to be Michael Smith v Gerwyn Price or Peter Wright and Michael van Gerwen v Luke Humphries, but the world rankings have taken one helluva beating in the past fortnight.
For the first time since 2010, when Simon Whitlock and Mark Webster reached the last four, there are two unseeded semi-finalists. In rankings terms, this is the semi-final line-up:
Luke Littler (164) v Rob Cross (8)
Scott Williams (52) v Luke Humphries (3)
Not even Quasimodo predicted that last four. It’s hard to know what else to say about Luke Littler, the multigenerational talent who hit his first filmed nine-darter at the age of 14. Two years on he is, by some distance, the youngest semi-finalist in PDC World Championship history. Everyone in darts suspected Littler would have a run like this in his teenage years. But not on his debut, not when he’s still – drink! – 16.
The three non-Littlers all have great stories of their own, yet they’ve been overshadowed by somebody who almost certainly won’t be old enough to vote in the next election.
In many ways Rob Cross, 33, is the worst possible opponent for Littler. In historical terms, he’s a perfect fit. Cross is the last person to win the worlds on debut, six years ago, when he survived match darts against Michael Smith and Michael van Gerwen before stomping all over Phil Taylor’s fairytale ending.
Cross has been up and down since then, particularly at Ally Pally, but at his best he is a cold-eyed killer. Yesterday he became the first man in PDC history to win a quarter-final from 4-0 down, remorselessly aspyhxiating a previously rampant Chris Dobey, and he’ll have no compunction about making a 16-year-old cry in front of 3,200 and millions on TV.
I’m making Cross sound like a horrible piece of work, aren’t I? He’s not, not at all; he’s just a winner. And he is by far the toughest opponent Littler has faced in this competition.
Scott Williams, 33, made a bit of a splash in last year’s world before losing an excellent game against Cross in the last 32. He had a miserable year on the circuit, but few people are as invigorated by the big stage and, even in a sport that isn’t renowned for shy, retiring types, Williams has stood out in the past fortnight.
His extroversion might look cheap had he not backed it up by beating four seeds, including three of the world’s top ten: Danny Noppert, Martin Schindler, Damon Heta and, almost unbelievably, Michael van Gerwen. Williams remains the rank outsider of the last four, but his confidence and sense of theatre make him dangerous.
Even against a man who has won his last 17 games. Luke Humphries, 28, was the best player in the world in 2023, finally ending his hunt for a major by winning three in a row before the World Championship. Like Littler and Williams, this is his first semi-final, though he did reach the quarters in 2019, 2020 and 2022.
For much of that time Humphries, a natural 180 hitter with a beautifully rhythmic throw, struggled with anxiety on stage, but he lost three or four stone during the various Covid lockdowns and started to fulfil his abundant potential.
The pressure of being favourite – and the consequent unthinkability of defeat - seemed to affect him at the start of the tournament. He played poorly in his first game, even though he won comfortably, and was perilously close to going out to Ricardo Pietreczko in the last 32.
He was even closer to losing in the last 16, when Joe Cullen missed two match darts, though Humphries contributed fully to a classic match. His best performance came last night, an emphatic 5-1 win over Dave Chisnall in the quarter-finals, and he should beat Williams. Then again, ‘should’ hasn’t been much use to anyone in this World Championship.
Humphries v Williams is the second match tonight, with Littler and Cross expected on the oche at 7.45pm. He’s 16, you know.
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