World number one Luke Littler recovered from a slow start to beat Ricardo Pietreczko 10-6 and book his spot in the last eight of the Players Championship Finals in Minehead. The 18-year-old, who overtook rival Luke Humphries at the top of the rankings after winning last week’s Grand Slam of Darts, had earlier seen off Ross Smith 6-3 in the afternoon session with a 102 average.
Littler came from 3-1 down against Germany’s Pietreczko – who had edged out Gary Anderson in a last-leg decider – to lead 8-5, finishing with a brilliant 121 after hitting two bullseyes. Despite a slow start, he again returned a 102 average. “Obviously I am never happy when I am losing, at 3-2 down I then got it back to 5-all and I just had to kick on there,” Littler said on ITV4. “I was not the best on my doubles tonight, but I can sharpen up on them again tomorrow afternoon.”
Littler now faces Chris Dobey, who beat James Hurrell 10-5 in the late session. Gerwyn Price, the top seed from the Players Championship floor events, overcame Martin Schindler 10-6, while Nathan Aspinall held off Danny Noppert 10-8. Daryl Gurney, after defeating Stephen Bunting earlier, saw off Adam Lipscombe in a last-leg decider to set up a quarter-final with Price.
James Wade followed his win over Peter Wright with a 10-6 victory over Andrew Gilding. Dutchman Jermaine Wattimena battled past Ryan Searle 10-8 to reach a Players Championship quarter-final for the first time, and Josh Rock closed out a 10-8 win over Krzysztof Ratajski after leading 8-2. Littler, seeking his first Players Championship title, added: “This is one (title) I have not won, everyone does know that. I am definitely chasing for it tomorrow.”
