Luke Littler thrilled the audience at the Darts World Cup with another strong performance and reached the third round without any major problems.
The 16-year-old Englishman clearly won 3-1 against Andrew Gilding in London, confirming his strong form from the previous evening. The 3,000 fans at Alexandra Palace celebrated the youth world champion with Wonderland songs, which they previously dedicated to the 16-time world champion Phil Taylor.
Littler put on an impressive show. After the first set, the professionals usually go off stage for a break. Littler, however, stayed up there and sang along loudly to Status Quo’s “Rockin’ All Over the World.” Fans dedicated the chant “You go to school in the morning” to him. Before the game began, darts expert Wayne Mardle had drawn parallels with soccer superstar Lionel Messi regarding Littler’s ease.
Littler in the third round against Matt Campbell
The day before, Littler had won his first World Cup game 3-0 against Dutchman Christian Kist, scoring an average of over 106 points per three arrows. It was the highest score for a debutant at the World Cup. The teenager was immediately celebrated in the British media. The bookmakers already count him among the extended favorites for the title.
After Christmas (from December 27th) a third round duel with Matt Campbell from Canada awaits. The outsider surprisingly knocked former European champion James Wade out of the tournament and headed home to North America before the holidays. Campbell wants to be back in north London in time for his next match.