Luke Littler must have thought this dream had vanished. However, things changed when the young dart player fell behind almost 0-2 in the sets in the World Championship semi-final. The 16-year-old player, who has fascinated Alexandra Palace in London for two weeks and won the World Darts Championship by winning 6:2, will continue to dream for a while longer.
The debutant will play the final on Wednesday evening.
Rob Cross, nicknamed “Voltage” for his work as an electrician before the darts gods called him, beat Jonny Clayton in the round of 16 and made a miraculous comeback against Chris Dobey a round later. But Cross couldn’t keep up with Luke “The Nuke” Littler’s darts tale. Cross’ average was strong but his finishing was below average.
hero status
And so, after the disbanding of Raymond van Barneveld and Brendan Dolan, among others, it was the turn of number eight in the cross country world to take on Littler, the youngest finalist of all time.
It is rare for an Englishman to achieve heroic status so quickly. The British darts teenager’s life has been completely turned upside down in just a few weeks, with plenty of talk in the tabloid press about “The Nuke’s” girlfriend, who is five years his senior.
For a moment it seemed as if the Runcorn lad had suddenly found fame. The flamboyant Cross walked across the stage, chest out and lips pursed. The shrimp in the front row had already raised the “Shrimp is best” sign when Cross hit the eleven darter and was ready to dart a few minutes later to decide the second set.
But Cross failed, Littler took the set from the gates of hell and regained his confidence based on the excellent finishing speed he achieved. There Littler made the difference with the suddenly unsure Cross. Littler sat on Cross and wouldn’t let him go.
Big man, it’s over
The score of 142 in the third set came carelessly. Just like 149 finishing a set later. A great man comes to an end that Cross can never overcome. In the sixth set, Littler served dessert to London’s packed and crazy crowd. A 132 finish that he started with two bullseyes.
“I was just happy to win one game,” Littler told Sky Sports afterwards. “This is madness. “I have nothing to say about this.”
“God bless you, respect it and do it,” Cross whispered to him after the win, “Nuke,” he said. How is Young approaching the final day on Wednesday? “I’m going to have a cheese omelette and pizza and do what I always do.”
Williams or Humphries
It was only after the decisive double blow that 33-year-old Cross, world champion at his first World Cup in 2018, was able to bow to the youngster and now calmly predict who his opponent would be in the final: Scott Williams or Luke Humphries. The other semi-final will be played tonight.
Source: NOS
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
