The 18-year-old delivered his finest display yet at Alexandra Palace, posting a career-best tournament average of 107.09 as he swept aside Mensur Suljovic 4-0 in just 25 minutes on Saturday night. Littler is yet to lose a set across his three matches so far and will face either Damon Heta or Rob Cross in the fourth round on Monday evening, live on Sky Sports.
Reflecting on his form, Littler admitted it was difficult to single out who could stop him while he is playing at such a high level. He described the win over Suljovic as his strongest performance of the tournament so far and said he believes there is still more to come in the later rounds.
Although there have already been nine-darters at this stage in previous championships, none have been hit so far this year. Littler, who has thrown four perfect legs in his short professional career, revealed he has been close in practice and hopes to land his first World Championship nine-darter in the coming days.
Former professional Mark Webster praised Littler’s composure, suggesting he looks as relaxed on the big stage as he does at home and even subtly adapts his throwing style mid-match without realising it.
The defending champion, who has claimed six televised ranking titles in the past year, is aiming to become the first player since Gary Anderson to successfully defend the world crown. While acknowledging that such a high average will not happen every time, Littler said the performance was still a strong statement of intent.
His record in longer matches at the World Championship further underlines his threat. In formats of 20 legs or more, he has lost just once the 2024 final against Luke Humphries. Despite being labelled the clear favourite, Littler stressed that darts remains unpredictable and that his focus is simply on turning up and delivering another strong display in his next match.
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