Luke Littler is through to the fourth round of the World Darts Championship after overcoming another tough test to defeat Ian White 4-1 at the Alexandra Palace.
The pre-tournament favourite came through a tight opening set but lost the second to White, who missed darts to win three of the first four sets and threaten a famous upset against the fourth seed.
Littler raced through the third set in just 39 darts and punished a missed set dart from White to wrap up the fourth with a 70 checkout, then broke White in the next before closing out victory with a 14-darter.
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Littler got the better of White in a superb leg, where he finished off an 88 checkout on the bullseye
Littler posted a 97.84 average and 12 maximums against White, with the 17-year-old avoiding a repeat of the emotions seen in his second-round win against Ryan Meikle and booking a last-16 meeting with Ryan Joyce on Monday.
Michael van Gerwen also secured his place in the fourth round as he came back from a set down to beat Brendan Dolan 4-2, with Chris Dobey also through after seeing off Josh Rock by the same margin.
How Littler came through White test
Littler opened with a scrappy 20-dart hold but trailed when White capitalised on five missed darts at double to break him, only for ‘Diamond’ to miss a set dart at tops before Littler snatched the opener with a 12-darter in a final-leg decider.
Luke Littler only converted 13 of 37 opportunities at double against White
The pair exchanged multiple breaks of throw in another cagey second, where Littler produced a 114 checkout before White took the next leg against the darts to level, but momentum moved back Littler’s way in the third.
Littler followed 13 and 14-dart legs by pinning bullseye for an 88 checkout to complete a dominant third set, with the ‘Nuke’ taking advantage of another missed set dart from White in the final leg of the fourth to find a 70 checkout and open a two-set buffer.
The teenager continued to miss doubles in the fifth set to raise White’s hopes of extending the contest, then threatened to close out victory with the ‘Big Fish’ before breaking his opponent with a 25-finish.
“It was tough,” Littler told Sky Sports. “Ian threw everything at me. If I hit a 180, he hit back with a 180 so I had to stay switched on. It was just a case of settling in quick. The first set was OK. But after the first break I was really up for it.
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Luke Littler comments on his struggles to finish double 10 and double 20 in his match against Ian White.
“I don’t think D10 liked me tonight and I didn’t like them! I was thinking of switching up to D18 or D16 but I stuck at the doubles I know and D10 got me home.”
MVG sees off Dolan as Dobey marches on
Van Gerwen appeared on course to take the opening set when he claimed a break of throw in the third leg, only for Dolan to fire back-to-back 15-darters – including an 86 finish on the bullseye – to grab a shock lead.
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Michael van Gerwen put on a vintage display by hitting a 129 checkout to break Brendan Dolan and clinch the second set
The Dutchman came through a scrappy 21-dart leg – despite missing seven darts at double – but wrapped up the second in emphatic fashion in the next leg, firing in a 129 checkout for a 12-dart break, before quickly taking control of the contest.
Van Gerwen won eight consecutive legs – including a brilliant 149 checkout at the start of the fourth – to win the next two sets in straight legs, only for Dolan to capitalise on wayward finishing from the three-time world champion to break and claim a set back in the fifth.
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Van Gerwen hit a 149 checkout in the opening leg of the third set against Dolan
Dolan produced a brilliant 123 checkout on the bullseye and missed a dart in the next leg to take the contest to a final-set decider, as Van Gerwen survived to hold throw and secure his spot in the next round.
“It was really hard, a really difficult game,” Van Gerwen told Sky Sports. “I tried to punish him at the right moments and I wasn’t capable of doing it. I can only blame myself for that. I’m so glad that D8 went in at the end.”
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Van Gerwen said he’s had a hard year and still has a lot of work to do
The opening match of the evening also produced a tight encounter, where Dobey came from 2-1 down to claim a 4-2 victory over Rock and book a last-16 meeting against either Kevin Doets or Krzysztof Ratajski.
Dobey responded to losing the third set by cruising through the fourth in straight legs and survived Rock missing a set dart in the fifth to edge a final-leg decider, before signing off victory with a brilliant double-double finish on the 19s and 96 checkout.
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Chris Dobey comes back for the win with a double-double finish after Josh Rock put the pressure on with a 180 in their third-round tie
Afternoon round-up: Aspinall breezes into last-16
Nathan Aspinall cruised through to the last 16 for the first time in five years after thrashing Andrew Gilding in straight sets, setting him up with a meeting against Ricardo Pietreczko on Monday.
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During Nathan Aspinall’s match with Andrew Gilding, the Asp got a little distracted by the Alexandra Palace crowd as he stopped playing for a short while to watch the antics at Ally Pally
Aspinall broke Gilding twice in the opening set and came through final-leg deciders to win the next two, before closing out an impressive win – where he registered a 92.17 average and was clinical on the doubles – by taking out tops for a 14-dart break.
“I’m glad I could finish,” Aspinall told Sky Sports. “Normally I’m really bad at finishing, that’s normally why I lose. Normally my scoring’s not there. The last two games I’ve played, I’ve finished really well, not scored great.”
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Nathan Aspinall blows the roof off Alexandra Palace as his walk-on gets the crowd on their feet for his match against Andrew Gilding at the World Darts Championships 2025
Pietreczko continued his impressive World Championship by brushing aside last year’s semi-finalist Scott Williams, winning both the first two sets and racing through the fourth in straight legs before wrapping up a 4-1 victory with a stunning 121 checkout on the bullseye.
The other match of the session went to a final-set decider, with Joyce squandering a two-set lead against Ryan Searle before recovering to edge through to the fourth round for the first time since 2019.
“It was just a really tough match,” Joyce told Sky Sports. “I tried everything in the end to get through and I’m so pleased that I managed to find something in the tank in that last set.”
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Ryan Joyce fought off a Ryan Searle comeback as he won 4-3 to go through to round four. Joyce also hit an impressive 113 checkout and there was a hiccup from Searle as he missed a single 20 to leave tops, all in the final set
What’s coming up next?
The third round concludes on Sunday, with Dimitri van den Bergh headlining the afternoon session against Callan Rydz after Kevin Doets faces Krzysztof Ratajski and Jeffrey de Graff plays Paolo Nebrida at 12.30pm
Ricky Evans takes on Robert Owen to open the evening session from 7pm, the final last-32 match of the tournament, before the fourth round begins later that evening with an all-Welsh showdown between Jonny Clayton and former world champion Gerwyn Price.
Defending champion Luke Humphries then faces two-time world champion in the final match of the night, with the remaining six fourth-round matches being played on Monday before the quarter-finals take place – across two sessions – on New Year’s Day.
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