Luke Littler was despatched crashing out of the World Darts Masters on Sunday afternoon as he suffered a shocking 4-2 defeat to Jonny Clayton within the quarter-finals.
The 18-year-old world champion was an awesome favorite in opposition to the world No 7 and averaged a formidable 108.5 within the match, however was denied by some class ending as Clayton hit 9 of 15 darts at a double.
The loss means Littler can now flip his focus to the defence of his Premier League Darts title, which begins on Thursday night in Belfast, reside on Sky Sports activities.
Clayton shocked Littler with an outstanding 138 end to take the primary set, however the 18-year-old gained the following two legs to right away degree the match.
The Ferret silenced the Milton Keynes crowd by profitable the third set in opposition to the throw after which hitting D2 to say a 3-1 lead after Littler had missed a set dart at bullseye.
Littler held his nerve to win the fifth set with an 81 checkout after which appeared to have wrestled again management when he broke Clayton with an 11-darter to take the primary leg of the sixth set.
However Clayton opened the following leg with 5 good darts earlier than pinning D16 to interrupt again instantly and he sealed a well-known victory on tops in what proved to be the ultimate leg of the match.
“This stage likes me,” mentioned 2021 champion Clayton to ITV afterwards.
“Luke didn’t play his A-game obviously, but it’s a battle and I got over the line. I can smile a big smile.
“He is a cracking man, an important darts participant and he has huge future forward of him. He is given me an enormous lesson the final two video games I performed in opposition to him.
“All jokes aside, it went my way. It was my day.”
Clayton will face Dimitri Van den Bergh within the semi-finals after the Belgian comfortably beat an out-of-sorts Nathan Aspinall 4-1.
The Asp confirmed some resistance by profitable the second set, however could not match Van den Bergh for a lot of the match and ultimately misplaced a exceptional closing leg.
Aspinall opened with seven good darts earlier than lacking T19 in his pursuit of a nine-darter, however finally misplaced the leg – and crucially the match – when he missed three darts at doubles.
Van den Bergh punished him by hitting tops after which D10 to seal victory with an 11-dart leg.
Bunting’s title defence ends after last-leg drama
Stephen Bunting holds his head after dropping to Danny Noppert (pic: PDC)
Earlier, Stephen Bunting’s defence of his Masters title led to dramatic style as he missed two match darts in a last-leg shootout to lose 4-3 to Danny Noppert.
The Dutchman had missed a match dart of his personal to provide Bunting an opportunity to take a look at 41, however misses at D16 and D8 allowed Noppert to return and hit D8 for an exhilarating victory.
After Bunting claimed an in depth opening set, Noppert reeled off six legs in a row to maneuver 3-1 forward – however the Englishman battled again to 3-3 after which 1-1 within the decisive seventh set.
Finally, Bunting was made to pay for lacking 19 of 26 darts at a double – together with 11 in a row at one stage – and he misplaced out on the possibility to play his buddy Luke Humphries within the final 4.
Humphries had appeared spectacular within the opening match of the afternoon, averaging 104 in a 4-1 victory over Damon Heta.
The highest seed missed two darts for the second set, however that was the one vital blemish as he gained each different set to succeed in Sunday night’s closing session.
Watch Premier League Darts 2025 completely reside on Sky Sports activities each Thursday from February 6 to Might 29.
