Luke Littler admits he wants the Alexandra Palace crowd ‘on his side again’ after reaching the semi-finals of the World Darts Championship.
Littler had little difficulty en route to a 5-0 win over Krzysztof Ratajski. There he reached the semi-finals of the World Darts Championship for the third consecutive year and booked a meeting with Ryan Searle.
The 18-year-old entered the quarter-finals under scrutiny after making post-match comments following his defeat of Rob Cross in the previous round. Regarding fans booing him, he said: “Do I care? Really, do I care?! I really don’t care!”
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Luke Littler checked out 170 in his semifinal match against Krzysztof Ratajski at the World Darts Championship.
“Can I just say one thing? You guys paid for the tickets and you guys gave me my prize money, so thank you, thank you for my money! Thank you for the boos. Thank you – come on!”
These comments drew boos as Littler began his walk-on against Ratajski, but these quickly turned into chants of ‘There’s only one Luke Littler’ as he took the opening set with a 170 checkout.
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Current champion Luke Littler applauds from the crowd after taking the stage in the World Championship quarterfinals.
Littler averaged 100.04 and hit a maximum of 10 during the straight sets win, and admitted after the match that he was now well prepared to deal with any criticism thrown his way.
“Obviously it’s New Year, New Year’s Day. There were a few boos here and there,” Littler added.
“But as soon as we got on stage, the crowd was so unbelievable. Before we went on stage, our family and friends were like, no matter what happens, it just happens.
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Luke Littler reacts after his comfortable win over Krzysztof Ratajski at the World Darts Championship.
“As soon as I got on stage I knew I wanted everyone to applaud and have them on my side again. Tonight they were on my side and I got the job done, so I hope that happens again tomorrow.
“I’m growing mentally and as a player. I know how to deal with it and I think the Rob Cross game definitely tested me, but yeah, I got through it. I know how I’ll deal with it and overcome it in future games.”
Littler: I don’t have a board to practice on!
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Luke Littler reached the semi-finals of the World Darts Championship after beating Krzysztof Ratajski at Alexandra Palace.
Despite the seemingly comfortable win, Littler’s experience revealed that he struggled overall, changing the pitch he threw multiple times.
He attributes part of the problem to taking a few days off and not bringing home a dartboard to practice on.
But he didn’t bring one to practice when he won a year ago and is using the same tactics in his next assignment, a semi-final against Ryan Searle, as he looks to become the first player to reach back-to-back World Championships since Gary Anderson in 2016.
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Highlights from the World Championship quarterfinal match between Ryan Searle and Jonny Clayton.
“I’m very happy that I was able to get through it. Obviously, I haven’t practiced in almost two and a half years, three days,” he added.
“I tried to change my throws here, there and everywhere. The most important thing was that I got the job done.
“Just not practicing and being lazy at home. Obviously we didn’t put the dartboard down.
“Yeah, I couldn’t practice properly, but I wanted to. Now that we’re playing every day, hopefully tomorrow will be better.
“Last year we stayed in that house and it worked. Obviously last year the no-meal house won.
“This year we have a house and no boards. See what happens!”
What’s next?
The World Darts Championship continues on Friday 2 January. Here, Luke Littler takes on Ryan Searle and Gary Anderson faces Gian van Veen for a place in the final.
You can watch both finals on Sky Sports Darts from 7pm.
Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch every match live exclusively until January 3 on Sky Sports’ dedicated darts channel (Sky Channel 407). Stream darts and other top sports with NOW.
