Former world champion beaten 5-1 by rising star
Littler cheered during rout of Krzysztof Ratajski
Old acquaintance forgot, and never brought to mind. A new year, a new crowd and perhaps even a clean slate for the world champion, Luke Littler, who continued his largely untroubled progress towards back-to-back titles with an embarrassingly one-sided 5-0 win over Krzysztof Ratajski in the first of Thursday night’s two quarter-finals.
Perhaps, after the startling boos and jeers of Tuesday night’s game against Rob Cross, after his salty comments about the barrackers paying his prize money, a certain caution might have been expected. But despite receiving a mixed reception as he entered the stage, Littler quickly won them over in a brutal, nonchalant, princely 33-minute exhibition. The Alexandra Palace multitudes drank a cup of kindness, and by the end all seemed to have been forgiven.
Of course, it helps when you reel in the big fish in the very first set, prance across the stage wielding an imaginary rod, fire off a barrage of 180s, give the people exactly what they want. The world No 37 from Poland has had a wonderful run in this tournament, breathing fresh life into a career almost derailed by life-saving brain surgery. But here he was sadly outmatched, making plenty of chances for himself but throwing only 23% on his doubles.
