Littler beats Aspinall to set up Bunting semi-final

In the PDC World Championship, Luke Littler defeated Nathan Aspinall by a 5-2 decision to advance to the semi-finals.

The 17-year-old, looking to go one better after finishing runner-up 12 months ago, dominated with an average of 101.54.

Littler is odds-on favourite for the title, but will meet formidable opposition in Bunting, who overcame two-time champion Peter Wright 5-2.

Thursday’s other semi-final will feature three-time winner Michael van Gerwen against Chris Dobey.

Fourth seed Littler took control early on, grabbing the first set within four minutes with an average of 118.66 after a few nervy moments in earlier matches.

World number 12 Aspinall, whose run to the last eight came after a year plagued by elbow and wrist injuries, tried to stay competitive but was overpowered by his fellow Englishman’s impressive scoring.

Van Gerwen, who won his first championship in 2014, was 24 years, 9 months old when he stayed on track to become the youngest winner of the tournament.

After reaching the quarter-finals at Alexandra Palace, Littler said, “I think we both played very well there, but I’m so happy to win.”

“The crowd was chanting for Nathan; they wanted a return, but I had to finish it.”

Littler, who turns 18 later in January, is seeking to crown a remarkable 12 months after losing to Luke Humphries at the age of 16 in last year’s showpiece.

However, Masters champion Bunting overpowered him, who appeared to be in complete control right away as he entered David Guetta’s “Titanium.”

Before the 17th seed Wright rallied back with a 133 checkout in the sixth set, the 39-year-old jumped into a 4-0 lead.

After winning and posting an average of 95.55, Bunting, who is now fifth in the world from eighth, led the crowd in a rendition of “Let’s go Bunting mental.”

“In the back room I felt really nervous, on edge”, said Bunting, who won the BDO world title at Lakeside 11 years ago.

In a brilliant last-eight tie, Michael van Gerwen defeated Callan Rydz to advance to the semi-finals against Chris Dobey.

Van Gerwen, the third seed, won the last world title in 2019 by overcoming Rydz with impressive style to win 5-3 and move one step closer to a fourth title.

For the first time in two sets, Dobey defeated former champion Gerwyn Price 5-3 to reach the last four.

Van Gerwen twice won in a match of the highest caliber, but Rydz, who hit 17 180s, rallied to level the playing field.

The Dutchman won by two sets at 4-2 before being pegged back by Rydz again to win the match with a win average of 103.1.

Rydz ended with an average of 103.88 and hit 46.15% on the doubles but it wasn’t enough against an inspired Van Gerwen, who was at 44.74% on checkouts.

With “Mighty Mike” losing the seventh set despite an average of 111.67, neither player had a lower average of 103.59 from the fifth set.

“It always makes you very happy to play games like this.” According to Van Gerwen, it’s probably one of my best performances in a while.

“He gave everything and put pressure on me constantly. He never gave up on hitting trebles. My game is in a good place, but it doesn’t mean anything yet”.

After a blistering start from Wales’ 2021 winner Price, Dobey, who had previously lost in the last eight, persevered and won 5-2 with five darts.

The Englishman’s failure to finish the job brought back memories of his quarter-final defeat by Rob Cross last year, when he surrendered a 4-0 lead.

However, a break allowed Dobey to regroup and prevented another collapse, resulting in a brilliant double-double on the 18s.

Chris Dobey 5-3 Gerwyn Price

Michael van Gerwen 5-3 Callan Rydz

Peter Wright 2-5 Stephen Bunting

Luke Littler 5-2 Nathan Aspinall

From 19: 30 GMT

Chris Dobey v Michael van Gerwen