The reigning World Matchplay champion, a certain Luke Littler, kicked off his defence in style with a second-half performance against Niko Springer – one I bet he wishes England had shown against Argentina in the football.
Up against promising fellow youngster Niko Springer, The Nuke looked like he had a real battle on his hands. With the scores locked at 5-5 coming out after interval number two, The Nuke let his prowess on the oche do the talking and exploded into life as if to say, “Panic? What panic?”
For those who have been living under a rock for the past couple of years and thought the Warringtonian was in genuine trouble, they soon discovered that this is a kid who can put his foot down on the accelerator at any given time. One minute you’re feeling optimistic, the next he’s disappeared over the horizon like a Formula One car overtaking a mobility scooter with a flat tyre.
That he did, romping home to a magnificent victory with the sporting equivalent of a couple of overhead kicks and a screamer into the roof of the German net to prevail 10-6. It was less a darts match and more a reminder that giving Luke Littler an inch is a bit like lending a toddler a drum kit and hoping for peace and quiet.
Victory for the teenage phenom sets up a last-16 tie against stable-mate and close friend Nathan Aspinall – which, in fairness, could grace any final.
Similarly to Littler, The Asp was on fire and didn’t wait until the second phase of the match to really get his fangs into Joe Cullen, eventually ending up a 10-5 winner.
The Rockstar can take huge heart from his performance, which on most other days would have left him still in the hat. Frustratingly for Joe, he walked into a snake-monikered man bang in form who was treating the treble twenty like it had slept with his wife, eaten his breakfast, and then borrowed his car without asking. Nine maximums and some clinical finishing did the job.
Opening up the show was a coin toss between Josh Rock and Luke Woodhouse. Most pundits had this down as a tie-break job. Whilst the former World Cup champion was the higher ranked, it’s Woody who has been entering quite a few winners’ circles in recent weeks, and it looked too close to call. Predicting the outcome beforehand was about as straightforward as trying to get through to British Gas.
And perhaps had the Harrow chap done what he normally does at the back end of legs and pinned his doubles with ruthless efficiency, the story would have ended differently. But he didn’t, and in a contest where both only ever really reached their B games, Rocky’s was better than Luke’s, claiming a 10-5 triumph. It wasn’t vintage from either man, but darts isn’t gymnastics. There are no bonus points for artistic impression.
Only one of the opening four matches had fans of Stephen Bunting and Niels Zonneveld left with no fingernails. This clash went into extra time and then, in keeping with the football theme, onto penalties.
Both lads may not have scored at the level we know they can, but that didn’t detract from the drama and excitement. At 10-10, it was anyone’s game. The Dutchman had already spurned match darts by that point, but he was to escape a couple from The Bullet before the end too. It was becoming one of those contests where both players seemed determined to give their supporters minor cardiac episodes.
At 12-12, we were set for a last-leg decider. And crucially, Zonneveld had the advantage of throwing first. If Bunting couldn’t break, he could have been home in time for the dying embers of the England vs France third-place play-off game – assuming, of course, he was remotely arsed.
As it goes, with media duties for the winner, he probably the entire ten-goal thriller but won’t care, as his winner in the shootout meant staying alive in a tournament where he has historically failed to shine. Success has a funny way of making absolutely everything else seem irrelevant.
The Liverpudlian now has a couple of days’ rest until he returns on Tuesday to face Josh Rock. That one looks far too close to call. Which probably means one of them will win comfortably and make every prediction look as reliable as a weather forecast written on a pub napkin.
