“The Nuke” sends Cross off
16-year-old Luke Littler makes a sensational entry into the Darts World Cup final
January 2, 2024, 10:30 p.m
Luke Littler underlines his status as the shooting star of the Darts World Cup: In the semi-finals, the 16-year-old shows his next outstanding performance and is the youngest player to date to reach the final. Littler inflicts a clear defeat on Rob Cross, the 2018 champion.
Super talent Luke Littler has reached the final of the Darts World Cup and is on the verge of the big hit. The 16-year-old Englishman continued his sensational winning streak with a 6-2 win in the semifinals against his compatriot and former champion Rob Cross and could be crowned the youngest world champion in history on Wednesday evening. In the final the teenager will face Luke Humphries or Scott Williams (both England), who will meet in the second semi-final. For Cross, who was the first player to turn around a 0-4 deficit in the quarter-finals the day before against Chris Dobey in the “Ally Pally”, the dream of a second title after 2018 was dashed.
The exceptional talent once again acted in a way that no one of his age had ever done before. Strong nerves and unfazed by the hustle and bustle around him, the unseeded Littler delivered another amazingly calm top performance in a thrilling duel at eye level, as in the previous rounds.
With his carefree nature, “The Nuke” (“The Atomic Bomb”) became a crowd favorite in record time – even before his semi-final duel, he played with the crowd during his entry. However, Littler, who was hailed as a “child prodigy” in the English media, suffered an early setback: Cross was not deterred, started extremely strong and grabbed the first set. Littler didn’t struggle for long – and immediately continued his recent achievements. The youngster from the northwest of England quickly fought back, withstood the pressure of his opponent and won the next three sets. However, Cross stuck with it and the two Englishmen exchanged blows openly.
After Cross had reduced the score to 2:3, Junior World Champion Littler increased the number of strokes again. Cross could no longer keep up, the youngster immediately used his first match dart. Not only since top star Michael van Gerwen’s unexpected exit on New Year’s Day has Littler been considered the biggest tournament favorite.
The youngest world title holder from the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is Michael van Gerwen, who surprisingly failed against Williams in the quarter-finals on New Year’s Day. The Dutchman triumphed in London for the first time in 2014 at the age of 24.
(Photo: Zacharie Scheurer/dpa-tmn)
ntv on Whatsapp – that’s how it works
The Whatsapp broadcast channel ntv.de Subscribing is very easy: the invitation link
https://on.n-tv.de/9/ntvaufwhatsapp
Tap and follow the instructions. Click on the bell at the top right to subscribe to the channel.