Littler wins Wattimena thriller but Van Gerwen goes out

After being defeated by Josh Rock, Luke Littler escaped with a real scare before coming back to defeat Jermaine Wattimena 13-11 in a close match to advance to the World Matchplay quarter-finals in Blackpool.

Littler, the reigning world champion, fell to Dutchman Wattimena with a score of 4 0 and then fell to 7 2 2.

A clearly incensed Littler drew one leg back just before the second break and waved a yell of joy to the crowd to assure him that he was not going home at the moment.

Littler came out of the break feeling renewed, winning six legs in a row, but Wattimena found his composure and the two players exchanged blows to bring the game to a tie.

Littler missed two match darts as the tension grew, but after the third, he once more roared in celebration and pointed to the star, which reads his World Championship victory.

According to Littler, “I’m a world champion for a reason, I find these gears when I need them,” when I pointed to the star on my shirt.

Since the first round of the World Championship, I haven’t experienced that kind of pressure. It’s my third game here, and I’ve won two of them, so I was a little anxious.

I want to return to the stage, and I’m currently looking forward to the quarter-final.

Van Gerwen started well against Rock in Northern Ireland, opening the match with a 150 checkout before soaring to a 5-1 lead.

At the second break, Rock cut the lead to 6-4 before Van Gerwen, who appeared to be on the verge of victory, took a 9-6 lead.

However, Rock fought back and the momentum quickly gained when a top-notch 152 checkout cut Van Gerwen’s lead for the first time, before winning the next two legs to take the lead for the first time.

Van Gerwen needed a 138 checkout to keep the score at 10-10, but Rock persevered during a tense tie break.

I believe I maintained my emotions throughout the game. He told Sky Sports, “I don’t know what was going on, but I did get into the game at the conclusion.”

One of the most dramatic games, “I had my heart pumping the entire time.” The strain has finally subsided. What a game.

Chris Dobey defeated England’s Gerwyn Price 11-3 to reach the quarter-finals.

In a dominant performance, Welshman Price, who had an angry argument with Daryl Gurney in the previous round, averaged 108.7 and hit eight 180s.

It was fantastic, I must say. He told Sky Sports, “I felt like I couldn’t miss the middle of the game.” Chris was put a lot of pressure by me. In patches, I believe he still performed fairly well.

“I think we were both flying at the time, and I think I was just pipping him on a few legs, probably disheartening him a little bit.” It’s a good game for me.