A tearful Luke Littler got here inside millimetres of opening his quest for a maiden World Darts Championship crown with a nine-dart end as he beat Ryan Meikle in record-breaking vogue however then made the shock admission it was his “hardest recreation”.

The teenage sensation was again on the Alexandra Palace stage 12 months on from his outstanding debut run to the ultimate and confirmed everybody why he’s the favorite to win the title this 12 months.

Littler was a breath away from darting perfection when he missed a double 12 however threw a surprising 140.91 common within the last set to win 3-1.

That’s the file for the very best common in a single set on the World Championship because the 17-year-old continues to interrupt obstacles.

The win was extraordinarily emotional for Littler, who reduce his onstage interview quick after breaking down in tears.

Littler was the principle attraction on Saturday night time, arriving on the match as the largest title within the sport, recent from his second-placed end within the BBC Sports activities Persona of the 12 months and changing into probably the most searched sportsman on Google within the UK throughout 2024.

And he’s favorite for this 12 months’s match after a surprising 12 months, which has seen him win 10 PDC titles, together with the Premier League and Grand Slam of Darts.

He began slowly however burst into life on the again finish of the match, sealing the set in simply 32 darts, together with that agonising nine-darter try.

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The 17-year-old booked his return to Ally Pally after Christmas and can now play Ritchie Edhouse or Ian White within the third spherical.

“It was the hardest recreation I’ve performed, however as a participant you’ve got to recover from the road,” Littler stated, “It was recreation on and backside’s gone for me.

“The final set I don’t know the place I pulled it from. I simply needed to struggle till the tip. It was good to be again, and get on the stage, nervous, I needed to discover it someplace. I do know I’ve obtained it.

“As quickly because the query got here on stage after which increase, the tears got here. It was only a bit an excessive amount of to talk on stage. It’s the worst recreation I’ve performed, I’ve by no means felt something like that tonight.”

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Raymond van Barneveld suffered considered one of his most disappointing Ally Pally defeats as he crashed out to world quantity 76 Nick Kenny.

The five-time world champion, who was overwhelmed within the fourth spherical by Littler final 12 months, went down 3-1 to the Welshman, who was in tears after his victory.

Kenny practically made a large number of it, although, as he obtained the job carried out on his ninth match dart to arrange a 3rd spherical assembly with world primary Luke Humphries.

“It’s surreal, there’s a bit extra to it, I’ve saved my tour card, I imagine,” Kenny stated, “It was an absolute privilege to play Raymond van Barneveld on such a stage, he wasn’t at his finest however who cares actually?

“It’s the largest win of my life by far, it offers me one other two years on tour. There was much more using on it personally, I can actually transfer on and actually type myself out.”

Danny Noppert was additionally a high-profile casualty because the thirteenth seed went down 3-1 to Ryan Joyce.

Earlier within the day, final 12 months’s quarter-finalist Chris Dobey obtained his marketing campaign below method with a 3-1 win over Alexander Merkx. There have been additionally routine wins for Karel Sedlacek, Alexis Toylo and Brendan Dolan.