Defending World Darts Champion Luke Littler, who became the youngest World Champion last January at the age of 17, and recently the youngest World No. 1 at 18, reached the last eight of the competition but was put to work as Rob Cross nearly stunned him.
Cross, who won the World Championship in 2018 but had dropped his level recently, entering the tournament as the 17th seed, broke Littler several times in the match and was aided by the crowd, who sided with him instead of Littler. Littler improved, averaging 106.58 and hitting 17 maximums, and the match ended 4-2 and Littler was booed, but he said he did not mind it and was defiant to the crowd.
"I'm not bothered. Really not bothered. You guys pay for tickets and you pay for my prize so thanks for booing me, thank you. C'mon!", he shouted. "No-one wanted me to win but I proved them wrong yet again" Littler added to Sky Sports. "It is what it is. They want the underdog to win and they want the favourites to go out. I just had to get out of the way and get my job done."
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The quarter-finals of the World Darts Championship will be played on New Year's Day.