Luke Littler is targeting a place in the World Championship final and hopes his friend Angry Ginge can attend Ally Pally to cheer him on. The defending champion faces Ryan Searle in the first semi-final on Thursday evening, with matches the best of 11 sets.
Littler, who beat Krzysztof Ratajski to reach the last four, said of Angry Ginge, real name Morgan Burtwhistle: '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.' The teenager added that he would message him to see if he wants to come.
Littler is also chasing a nine-darter, having not hit one yet in this championship. 'It's been a bit frustrating,' he said after hitting successive 180s against Ratajski. 'I've not done it yet, but I'd love to.' He acknowledged the fans' desire to see a nine-darter, saying: 'Do the fans want the nine-darter for us or themselves? Themselves!'
Searle, who suffers from Dominant Optic Atrophy (DOA) and has limited vision, spoke about his condition. Littler praised him: 'What he can throw, the 180s, the ton-plus averages, with the problems he's got, it's unreal.' Littler beat Searle 10-2 at the World Matchplay and hopes for a similar result: 'It was one-sided and I want it to be one-sided again. But if Ryan does test me, I'm up for it.'
