Luke Littler may still be waiting to pass his driving theory test, but he showed no signs of hesitation as he demolished Ryan Searle 10-2 to reach the second round of the World Matchplay in Blackpool. The 17-year-old darts sensation, who recently admitted to failing his theory test for a fourth time, was in no mood for setbacks at the Winter Gardens.
Littler, the tournament’s second seed, rocketed into a 6-0 lead and never looked back, producing a near-faultless performance that saw him average almost 109. Speaking to Sky Sports after his win, Littler said: “I was well up for tonight. I wanted that win, to get that winning feeling, and I’ve done it in some standard.”
Earlier this week, Littler confessed that his studies for the road have taken a back seat, saying: “I’ve got a competition to focus on.
“I’ve been practising so much,” he added. “Obviously I’ve not put much on social media, but I’ve been at home putting the hours in, hours and hours, and I’m glad it’s paid off tonight.”
World number four Stephen Bunting survived a dogfight with Ryan Joyce to advance with a 10-8 victory. Joyce came from 8-4 down to level the contest at 8-8 when Bunting appeared to be distracted while looking to close out from 45, and was then a whisker away from going 9-8 up as he narrowly missed double five.
Bunting responded with a 180 and then checked out from 41 to secure his progress, but could not hide his frustration. He said: “I’m so disappointed.
“We had a battle last year. Thankfully I’ve not gone the distance this year and I’ve saved a bit of energy for the next round. We go on, we’re in the next round.”
Fifth seed Jonny Clayton survived a tough contest against Martin Schindler to prevail 10-7, despite the German putting up better numbers for much of the contest.
Clayton’s average was 99.60 compared to Schindler’s 103.45 but the Welshman picked his moments to advance.
Clayton said: “I am here, I want to win this tournament. Hopefully it is going to be my week. I love it when I pass the first round.”
Earlier, 13th seed Gary Anderson saw off Luke Woodhouse 10-5 despite a spectacular 167 checkout from the Englishman.
Four seeds were sent home during Sunday’s afternoon session as further shocks followed Saturday’s exits of top seed Luke Humphries and eighth seed Nathan Aspinall.
Seventh seed Damon Heta fell to Andrew Gilding in a contest that went to overtime, with Gilding eventually prevailing 12-10 after a late fightback came to nothing for Heta.
Gilding advances to face Dirk van Duijvenbode, who saw off 10th seed Rob Cross 10-8 after rallying from 6-2 down in a remarkable contest.
Jermaine Wattimena beat 15th seed Peter Wright 10-8 while Mike De Decker beat 12th seed Dave Chisnall 10-7.