Teenager Luke Littler has continued his fairytale run at the World Darts Championship, reaching the final with a 6-2 thrashing of Rob Cross at a raucous Alexandra Palace in London.
The teenager will next face fellow Englishman Luke Humphries, who beat Scott Williams 6-0 and climbed to world No.1 by reaching Wednesday’s showpiece match.
Still 19 days shy of his 17th birthday, the unseeded Littler started nervously and lost the opening set but took control with an astonishing display of scoring and double-hitting.
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He is by far the youngest player to reach the final of the championships and Cross, the 2018 champion, could only watch and admire his fellow Englishman.
Littler won six successive legs after trailing for the first time in the tournament and was simply too clinical for his far more experienced opponent as he ran away to victory, sealing it with his trusty double 10.
“I have no words, it’s just crazy to think I’m in a world championship final in my debut,” the 16-year-old told broadcaster Sky Sports.
“I was happy winning one game but I could go all the way.
“Rob told me, ‘God bless, you’re a step away, do it’.
“I’ve just settled on the stage. It took me a few legs to settle in the game and once I found that rhythm I was good to go.”
Littler beat five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld 4-1 in the last 16 on Saturday before outscoring 50-year-old Brendan Dolan 5-1 in the quarter-finals on Monday.
The teenager will face the winner of the second semi-final between Scott Williams and Luke Humphries in the showpiece match on Wednesday.
“In the morning I’ll go for my ham and cheese omelette, then come here have a pizza and then practise on the board,” Littler said.
“That’s what I’ve done every day.”
No unseeded player has ever won the PDC World Darts Championship.
