Luke littler defeated Nathan Aspinall in the World Matchplay 2nd round, with the highlight of the match being a 9-darter in the 1st leg. Watch the video here.
One of the biggest tournaments of the year in darts, the World Matchplay is underway in Blackpool, England. The reigning champion, Englishman
Luke Littler continued his incredible form in the second round, defeating his fellow countryman
Nathan Aspinall 11-8.
The match got off to a sensational start, as Littler began the first leg with an insane perfect 9-darter. The crowd erupted, and even Aspinall had to concede a celebratory high-five to the youngster.
Even a second perfect leg wasn't far off, as Littler fired off 8 darts that had the crowd on their feet. Sadly another explosion was prevented by the slimmest of margins on the 9th dart.
However, despite Littler's heroics, Aspinall didn't give up and rallied back into the game, tying the scores at 7-7. Littler had other ideas of how the comeback was going to go, taking the next three legs and holding on to win.
Littler's average of 113,68 points tells you all about the quality on display, and only once before has a match at the World Matchplay seen a higher average score. 14 maximums during the bout isn't bad either!
- This was probably the best match between me and Nathan ever. It's never over against him, he never gives up.
- I've played two amazing matches here. I hope I can defend my title, but for now it's full concentration on just the next match ahead, Littler told Sky Sports after the match.
Below you can find the video of Littler's 9-darter. The article continues after the video.
Littler will face Northern Ireland's
Josh Rock in the quarter-finals, who got the better of
Stephen Bunting with a scoreline of 11-6. The duo also faced each other in last year's World Matchplay semi-finals.
In the other matches of the night Dutch star
Dirk van Duijvenbode sent 3-time champion
Michael van Gerwen home 14-12. Van Gerwen did manage to make a comeback from 4-8 down to 10-10, but finally succumbed to his fellow Dutchman in the 26th leg.
Gary Anderson of Scotland also secured his spot in the quarter-finals by defeating Welshman
Jonny Clayton 11-7.
The second round of the tournament concludes today on Wednesday. The quarter-finals begin on Thursday.
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