World Champion Luke Littler is one game away from yet another PDC major – and one that would secure him the immortal Triple Crown – after coming through a monumental 17-14 battle against Josh Rock.
It was always going to be a tall order to follow the Wade vs Clayton classic. Littler and Rock’s response? Hold our coats. Then they stepped up and produced a match that made hitting a 180 look about as difficult as knocking on a door. (Just to clarify – the door bit is fairly simple. The 180s? Less so.)
Once again – and largely thanks to Rock’s brilliance – Littler found himself trailing heavily after the first break. In fact, as heavily as it gets after five legs when you don’t win any of them. But in a race to 17, there’s a bit more breathing room – not that it helps much when your opponent is hammering in trebles like it’s a day job. The first task – and pretty much the only priority for the teenager – was to get back into the match straight after the interval.
Things started well with a leg on the board, but just as quickly, the gap was back to five. Then came the magic – perfection, executed on demand. Cue another Luke Littler big-stage nine-darter. And quite frankly, with Rock kicking off with two maximums in the same leg, the 141 had to go. It did. Cue crowd eruption – and quiet relief from anyone who’d had a cheeky flutter on it at the start of the week.
As glorious as it was, it only got him on the board – 6-1 became 6-2 with the hold of throw. But Littler is the World Champion for a reason. He dug deep – the sort of deep that only champions can – and clawed his way back magnificently. By 9-9, both players were launching 180s like they were on commission. And with £200,000 on the line for the winner, in a way… they sort of were.From that point, both players had their bursts of brilliance.
Littler surged to a 14-10 lead. Rock responded, cutting the gap to one. At 15-14, a tie-break looked inevitable. But Littler had other ideas – closing out what may well go down as one of the greatest matches ever played on the Winter Gardens stage.
The 29 combined maximums? A new record for any match at the famous venue. As stats go, it’s hard to argue with that claim.So, after a week of top-class tungsten tension, the final will be contested by the exact same two players who met in the last ranking PDC TV major – the UK Open. What are the odds? I am sure someone will be trying to work it out but there really isn’t any point.
Yes, Littler triumphed on the scoreboard, but Josh Rock played a massive part in what can only be described as a modern classic – one of those rare nights where darts itself might just have been the biggest.
DW caught up with Luke after the match – and what better way to start than with a memory test? When James Wade lifted the World Matchplay title in 2007, Luke was… well, little. Six months old, give or take. What does he remember from that final?
“Yeah… shows how these experienced boys are still hanging around. He’s one of the best. I’ve come along and done what I’ve done.”
Slightly missed the point, perhaps – but it had been a long night, so we’ll let him off. What we have seen this week is some of the very best of Luke Littler – including his fighting spirit after trailing 7-3 twice.
Can you still improve? we asked:
“Absolutely. I think I can get a lot better. My doubles, for a start – that’s what I always say in interviews. That they could improve. But overall this week, they’ve actually been pretty good.”
Well he’ll need them to be “pretty good” once again, if he is to deny Wade a fairy story 20 years in the making and write another for himself.
—–Ends—–
Images: T Lanning / PDC
