Defending champion Luke Littler faces Ryan Searle in the World Darts Championship semi-finals and hopes his friend Angry Ginge, real name Morgan Burtwhistle, can attend the match at Alexandra Palace.
Littler, who beat Krzysztof Ratajski to reach the last four, said: 'I’ll have to see what he’s doing tomorrow, see if he’s busy. If he’s not busy then we’ll have to get him down. He’s not been yet, so hopefully I can message him after this and see if he wants to come down.'
The teenager is also aiming for a nine-darter, having not achieved one yet in this championship. 'It’s been a bit frustrating. I mean it’s the first time I’ve gone back-to-back with 180s,' he said after hitting successive maximums against Ratajski. 'Plenty of chances to get it.'
Littler acknowledged Searle's struggle with Dominant Optic Atrophy but praised his performances. 'I know he does struggle. But what he can throw, the 180s the ton-plus averages, with the problems he’s got, it’s unreal.'
He is aware opponents raise their game against him. 'The biggest thing is that players are always going to turn up somehow. They’re always going to push me and they’re always going to play better than they did last round.'
Littler beat Searle 10-2 at this year's World Matchplay and hopes for a similar result. 'It was one-sided and I want it to be one-sided again. I just want to get the job done.'
