Defending champion eases to 6-1 semi-final victory
World No 1 hits back after losing first set to 20th seed
Perhaps the curse of being Luke Littler is that after a while, performances like this begin to feel a little … mundane. What’s that? You’ve mastered the sport of darts at the age of 18, you pull 105 averages out of your back pocket and you’ve reached your third world championship final at your third attempt? Cool, yeah, if you could just put that in an email, cheers.
In the end, it wasn’t remotely close. We all know already that Littler grows in stature as this tournament progresses, that he takes strength with every round, every beaten opponent, every increase in sets. A gathering purple storm is tearing through north London, and here it was Ryan Searle’s severe misfortune to find himself in its path.
There was barely a bead of sweat on the kid as he left the stage after this 6-1 semi-final victory, the presumptive favourite to add a second world title to the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, UK Open, Grand Slam and Players Championship Finals he has already collected in the past 12 months. By the end, he was no longer really playing Searle in a meaningful sense, but chasing a nine-dart finish that would have made this night truly memorable.
