Luke Littler: 16-year-old reaches World Darts Championship final with victory over Rob Cross
16-year-old darts sensation Luke Littler produced another stunning display to reach the World Darts Championship final.
The teenager from Warrington beat 2018 winner Rob Cross 6-2 to continue his fairytale run at Alexandra Palace and move within one victory of becoming the youngest world champion in darts history.
Littler, the youngest-ever player to reach the decider of the premier darts tournament, will face fellow Englishman Luke Humphries in tomorrow's final.
Asked on Sky Sports how he will prepare for the final tomorrow, Littler replied: "I'll do what I've been doing. In the morning, I'll go for my ham and cheese omelette, come in here, have my pizza, that's what I've been doing every day."
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He added: "It's crazy to think I'm in a world championship final on my debut, I was happy winning one game, but I could nearly go all the way."
He added that his semi-final opponent told him after his defeat: "God bless, I respect you, do it."
Littler produces biggest statement yet in semi-final win
Nicknamed "The Nuke", Littler, previously told Sky News that he started playing darts at 18 months old.
His sensational performances have made him the youngest player to reach the final of the world championship.
He is now on the cusp of producing one of the greatest sporting stories of all time, which would rival Emma Raducanu winning the US Open when she was 18 in 2021.
Littler produced his biggest statement yet in the semi-final as he downed eighth seed Cross, who was by no means under-performing, in stunning fashion.
He bombarded the treble-20 16 times and averaged 106.05 in a nerveless performance.
Littler is trying to emulate Cross by lifting the Sid Waddell Trophy on his debut in the tournament and few would bet against him as his juggernaut looks impossible to stop.
Whatever happens in Wednesday's final, he is the story of the tournament.
He has earned celebrity status and his exploits have transcended the world of darts, already appealing to a younger generation of fans, with Sky Sports reporting they had an 18.5 per cent share of all under-35 viewing in the UK for his New Year's Day quarter-final win over Brendan Dolan.
Littler qualified for the tournament by winning the World Youth Championship in November and his run has put the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) under pressure to hand him a place in the forthcoming Premier League.
If he performs like he did against Cross, he will be a heavy favourite.
When Cross took the opening set of the match it saw Littler trailing for the first time in the tournament.
But the teenager showed he can perform when he needs to, and levelled up before going 2-1 in front.
He then gained a 3-1 lead before getting himself into a superb position to extend that even further, but missed a dart at double top.
Cross took the same score out to make it 3-2 instead of 4-1, but Littler was not perturbed, showing composure and maturity to win the next two sets and move one away from the finish line.
Littler, 19 days from his 17th birthday, showed nerves of steel to close it out in style as his dream run continued.
