16-year-old Luke Littler continues to cause a sensation at the World Darts Championship in London.
Source: Zac Goodwin/PA Wire/dpa
Teen sensation Luke Littler’s triumphant march at the World Darts Championship in London continues. The 16-year-old Englishman won his third round match against Canadian Matt Campbell 4-1 on Wednesday evening and is directly into the round of 16 on his debut.
Top favorite Michael van Gerven also achieved this. The Dutch darts star made his next brilliant appearance at Alexandra Palace and gave his compatriot Richard Veenstra no chance at all in a clear 4-0 win.
Comparisons with Lionel Messi
Previously, the junior world champion Littler not only had fans, but also opponents and experts. They compared him and his lightness with football superstar Lionel Messi at a young age. What stood out this time was the strong double rate.
Littler will face the winner of the game Jim Williams (Wales) against Raymond van Barneveld (Netherlands) in the round of 16 on December 30th. The duel with five-time world champion Barney would be particularly explosive; the veteran is 40 years older.
Littler is already one of the favorites
Littler had already excelled in his debut (3-0 against Christian Kist) with an average of over 106 points. The Englishman also played the second match (3:1 against the seeded Andrew Gilding) with a lot of class and rip-off. Littler would be favored again against both Williams and van Barneveld.
The bookmakers now see him as a serious title contender and above top stars like Gary Anderson (Scotland). This also includes van Gerwen, who won the tournament at Alexandra Palace in 2014, 2017 and 2019.
Van Gerwen has been flawless so far
However, significantly more difficult tests could await from the round of 16 onwards. England’s co-favorite Stephen Bunting, who faces Florian Hempel on Thursday (1.30 p.m.), is a potential opponent in the round of the best 16.
“Bring me Bunting. If you want the title, you have to beat everyone,” said van Gerwen on stage in a TV interview. In the semi-finals the Dutchman could face top favorite Luke Humphries from England. Van Gerwen against Humphries is considered the early final in London.
Source: dpa
2023-12-27 21:22:21
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