Luke Littler has reached the semi-finals of the World Darts Championship in London and will meet Rob Cross there. However, there will be no final against Michael van Gerwen, the superstar surprisingly failed on Monday (01/01/2023) against Scott Williams.
The Dutchman hadn’t lost a set until the quarter-finals, but he rarely found his game against Williams. In the end, Martin Schindler’s defeater had the upper hand 5:3 and will fight against Luke Humphries or Dave Chisnall for a place in the final on Tuesday (January 2nd, 2023).
Littler excels against desolate Dolan
The 16-year-old Littler, who is celebrated by the audience as a “child prodigy” during the World Cup, also impressed in the quarter-finals after his fabulous win against Raymond van Barneveld (4:1), giving his opponent no chance from the start. The young Englishman flexed his muscles especially in the second set and achieved an average of over 121 points per shot. It wasn’t until the fifth set that Littler lost the thread a little and missed several double fields, but he still won the game clearly 5-1.
The overall truth of the game was that Dolan was far from his top form. The 50-year-old played a three-dart average of well under 90 throughout the game – in this condition he probably wouldn’t have had a chance against any darts professional in a World Cup quarter-final.
Cross writes darts history with victory
Cross and Dobey, who had defeated last year’s winner Michael Smith in the round of 16, fought a thrilling duel that only ended in… Sudden death was decided. The outsider had previously won the first four sets against his desolate opponent, then Cross shone in the same way as six years earlier when he “Ally Pally“Became world champion.
In the decisive ninth set, the 33-year-old went straight ahead. Dobey, who missed over 40 doubles attempts throughout the game, was able to equalize again, but Cross ultimately held his nerve and won the decisive round 5:3. With a checkout of 70, he made it into the semi-finals and became the first professional to win a quarter-final after being 0-4 down.