Luke Littler powered into the quarter-finals of the Winmau World Masters in Milton Keynes with a 4-1 victory over Ross Smith, setting up a clash with Josh Rock. The world champion recovered from a shaky start in his previous match to deliver a dominant performance, averaging 116 in the first set.
Smith fought back to take the fourth set, but Littler held his nerve in the decider of set five, finishing 92 on double eight to seal the win. “It was far better than last night,” Littler said. “The stats show he had a brilliant game, but I’m glad to get through.”
Meanwhile, defending champion Luke Humphries produced a nine-dart finish in the second set but was pushed to a deciding set by debutant Luke Woodhouse, eventually winning 4-3. “I would rather win the game and not hit a nine-darter than hit one and lose,” Humphries said.
Stephen Bunting suffered a shock 4-0 defeat to Danny Noppert, while Gian van Veen came from behind to beat Nathan Aspinall 4-2. Gerwyn Price recovered from 2-0 down to edge Jonny Clayton, James Wade beat Gary Anderson 4-3, and Chris Dobey defeated Damon Heta in a deciding set.
