Luke Littler's rival in the second round, Ryan Meikle, announced that he would do everything to make a surprise. He wanted to put in the effort and play the best match possible. He was influenced by the so-called “Littler effect” – players from lower places in the world ranking mobilized themselves even more to face the wonderful 17-year-old.
Unexpected trouble
Littler had trouble finding the right rhythm. In the first set, he had many more visits to the target without a triple value than his opponent. Meikle had problems with throwing doubles, but he also had a lot of time to close individual legs. Littler wasn't getting too close in the distance. The victory in the first set was decided by the fifth leg and it was the best performance of the 17-year-old in this part of the match. Finally, he threw a triple, and the leg closed out the 100-point mark by throwing two double-20s. The top-top combination was effective. He was leading 1-0, although it must be admitted that he had to struggle with his opponent.
But the second set had Littler's problems from the previous legs. He had no rhythm again, missing triples. He didn't throw a single max. Meikle played much better in this game. He scored 140 points twice with his approach, and improved his efficiency on double values. He finished the leg in good style. Thanks to this, he won the set 3:1 and led to a draw.
Meikle could therefore think about causing a sensation, of which we have already had several at this tournament. They were eliminated, among others: Michael Smith, Raymond van Barneveld, i.e. former world champions. James Wade, Mike De Decker, Danny Noppert, Cameron Menzies and Gabriel Clemens, a group of really strong darters, also said goodbye to the championship.
In the third set, Littler still looked uncertain, as if he was a little tense. He threw two big shots, but they didn't do much for him. Meikle maintained the rhythm from the second set. He even threatened his rival with a 140-point attempt, but the 17-year-old had nerves of steel. He closed out the third leg of the game, finishing with a top shot, a double 20. From that moment on, he finally started to take control of the match. A moment later, he calmly won the next leg and the set 3:1.
Littler's historic feat
Littler led in sets again, but he outdid himself in the fourth set. He played at a cosmic level, which he did not show even during the season. He completely dominated his opponent. Already in the first leg of the fourth game he had a chance to finish with nine darts. He threw two maxes, but broke the seventh dart. But lega finally won after throwing a double 20.
The second leg is another phenomenal attempt by Littler. He made the fans hungry again for the ninth dart, but he missed the last dart, aimed at double 12. He closed the match a moment later with a throw for double 6.
In the third leg of the set, which turned out to be the last, there was no approach to the ninth shuttle, but he still confidently won it. He only had three failed triples in the entire set.
Littler won the entire match 3-1, but his fourth game will go down in darts history. He scored with an average of 140.91 points. It was the best set in the history of the World Championships.
The teenager was close to breaking another record, the number of ninth darts in a season. He could have been the first in history with five perfect games in a year.
After winning the match, Littler was clearly moved. He wasn't doing well in the earlier phase of the match and his emotions disappeared. In the conference after the match, he said directly that it was probably the most difficult match he had ever played.
In the third round, Luke Littler will play against the better of the pair, Ritchie Edhouse – Ian White. Edhouse is this year's European champion.
World Darts Championship, second round:
Luke Littler -Ryan Meikle 3-1 (3-2, 1-3, 3-1, 3-0)
- throws 180: 10 – 4
- throws 140+: 13 – 9
- throws 100+: 31 – 29
- effectiveness on doubles: 10/20 (50%) – 6/19 (31, 58%)
- average point when approaching the target: 100.85 – 91.93