Luke Littler says he expects “fireworks” when he faces Josh Rock in the Grand Slam of Darts quarter-finals in Wolverhampton.
The last time Littler and Rock met in a major was in a special semi-final of the World Matchplay. ‘The Nuke’ fired back with a spectacular nine-darter and dropped 10 legs in a row en route to a stunning 17-14 win.
Despite the Rock not being at his best in his last 16 wins against Connor Scutt, Littler is ready to get back to his best when the Rock clashes once again.
While he works with the Northern Irishman, he knows they will have to be “enemies” once again on the big stage if he is to continue his quest to become world number one and defend his title.
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Josh Rock said he was grateful to have advanced to the quarter-finals after struggling to get to 180 in his match against Connor Scutt.
“Yes, 100% (there will be fireworks),” Littler said.
“Obviously Josh didn’t play close to his best, averaging 89, that’s not Josh, but obviously if he sees that, he’s totally kicking himself and he’s got to work on that.
“I’m always ready to put on a good performance, so hopefully Josh in particular can get out to a 5-0 lead instead of 5-0 like in match play.
“I feel like I have no friends on stage and I’m alone up there. I have to do my own thing. But backstage we’ll always talk and we’ll always laugh. But once we get on stage we’re enemies and we have to do our jobs.
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Highlights from Luke Littler’s performance against Josh Rock in the World Match Play semifinals.
“Josh has been on tour longer than me, but we’ve always had a camaraderie. Now that he’s joined Target and I’m at Target, it’s made everything so much easier.
“We’re all Target players, we’re all competing in the same competitions, and we get to talk to each other all the time, which is great, but when we get on stage, we’re enemies.
“This is going to be another great fight. Like I said, he wasn’t at his best, but I’m confident Josh will come back.”
“He averaged 89 points, and he could give me another 10, 15 points to add to that average, and I expect that to come.”
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Luke Littler’s perfect legs compared to a vintage nine-darter made my Michael Smith win the 2023 World Darts Championship.
In the quest for world number one? Catch me if you can!
Littler now knows that simply securing a spot in a Grand Slam final would secure him the world number one spot he was seeking and dethrone Luke Humphries.
Littler admits that he has his sights set on “absolutely everything,” without a single goal motivating him.
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Luke Littler says he is aiming to beat Wessel Nijman to win a Grand Slam and become world number one.
“If someone plays the best darts they might catch me, but I felt very good tonight. I have my eyes on the title, world number one and everything else,” Littler added.
“I know that if I get to the final I’ll be No. 1 in the world, so I’m taking it one match at a time. Hopefully I can have another good match, maybe match play, with Josh.”
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