LUKE LITTLER began the New Year like he finished the old one – and is now two steps away from tungsten heaven.
The Nuke shoved streetfighter Nathan Aspinall, his stablemate and ‘elder brother’ on the circuit, out of the exit door with a 5-2 quarter-final triumph.
The freedom and confidence is in his game and he is feeling the same as he did on his fairytale run to the final 12 months ago.
Littler, who continues to justify his status as bookies’ favourite, is already guaranteed £100,000 and will be even closer to lifting the Sid Waddell Trophy if he sinks Stephen Bunting over the best of 11 sets on Thursday.
The 17-year-old said: “I’m so glad to win. The crowd were chanting for Nathan and wanted a comeback. I had to finish it.
“When we each won a set, we gave each other a fistbump. But when the referee says it’s ‘Game On’, it’s game on. Afterwards, we are fine.
“Ever since the first game, which was tough, it has felt like last year playing with absolute confidence and freedom. Now it’s the semi-finals.
“The crowd were good for me and Stephen. They can take the pick whoever they want. But I have seen a few Nuke shirts in here.”
The first time these darting duo met, back in Bahrain last January, the 16-year-old Littler hit a nine-darter, the youngest-ever person to do so in the professional ranks.
The pair share a manager in Martin Foulds but he was not visible in the VIP seats as if to avoid any suggestion of favouritism.
The No.4 seed opened up in electric fashion with a 105 finish – one of eight 12-dart legs – and wrapped up set one in a rapid-fire three-and-a-half minutes.
It was the first time this Festive period that he had started swiftly and not in a sluggish manner.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”‘Take the jug off him!’ – Emma Paton calls out fan who’s caught spilling pitchers of beer at World Darts Championship” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6366605416112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]As he walked off, he smiled broadly to his family and friends and did the same hands-out celebration that Champions League-winning striker Didier Drogba did whenever he scored in Chelsea colours.
Aspinall, 33, must have walked off there, thinking to himself: “My goodness – what could I have done differently there?”
And the worrying inner thoughts would have increased when Littler cleaned up set two with an average of 111.29 on his stats sheet.
The Stockport man is known for being a scrapper, especially when the going gets tough.
[authenticated-scripts src=”%3Cscript%20class%3D%22palin-poll%22%20src%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesun.co.uk%2Fpollingwidgets%2Fv3%2Fwidget.js%3Fquestion_id%3D101224%26game%3Dpolling%22%3E%3C%2Fscript%3E” type=”embedded” width=”100″ /]He has suffered with dartitis and there was evidence of that crippling affliction when he would routinely refuse to let go of the arrow and pause before throwing.
It is to his credit he can keep performing at the highest level and after Littler missed the Bull to go 3-0 up, the No.12 seed showed his enduring class by clinching set three on double 16.
At that point, Aspinall was giving it all the theatrics, interacting with the crowd, stopping his throw purposefully, slowing down the pace of the game.
These were all new aspects that Littler, in only his 11th game on the Ally Pally stage, had to contend with.
A 11-dart leg saw Littler go 3-1 up and then a 101 finish was the highlight of set five.
Aspinall kept the game alive with a score of 70 in the last leg of the sixth set but it only delayed the inevitable.
Littler, with 51 tournament 180s on his card and an average of 101.54, progressed with 48 minutes on the match clock following a 101 checkout.
Happy Nuke Year, Mr Littler – what a cracking start to 2025 this has been.
Meanwhile, earlier in the evening, Bunting cast a dizzying spell to knock out two-time world champion Peter Wright 5-2.
The Scouser credits his improved displays at this year’s World Championship on being placed under a trance by a hypnotherapist.
And that is the secret behind his second-ever run to semi-finals as he tries to add the PDC crown to his BDO Lakeside triumph from 11 years ago.
The Bullet, 39, cried backstage with his eldest son after it was confirmed he is the new world No 5.
He said: “I felt really nervous. Peter is a massive friend of mine and my son’s favourite player. I knew the crowd would turn pivotal. I am so happy to get over the line.”