Luke Littler beats Chris Dobey to keep Players Championship title dream alive
The world champion goes on to play Gerwyn Price in Sunday’s evening session
World number one Luke Littler kept himself on course for a first Players Championship Finals title as he beat Chris Dobey 10-5 in the last eight on Sunday afternoon.
Littler – who overtook rival Luke Humphries at the top of the rankings on the way to victory in last week’s Grand Slam of Darts – has been building momentum in Minehead, landing a 121 double-bullseye finish during his win over Ricardo Pietreczko on Saturday night.
The 18-year-old produced another high match average of almost 108, hitting nine maximums, as he saw off fifth seed Dobey, who faded during the latter stages in the wake of more heavy scoring and clinical finishing from the world champion.
Dobey had been on for a nine-dart finish in the fifth leg but missed double 18, by some distance down in the single bed.
Littler then turned the tide with successive breaks to open up a 7-3 lead, which he never looked like relinquishing and signed off with another 121 checkout.
“It was a very good game from start to finish,” Littler said on ITV4. “I just had to take off after that second break and got that 7-3 advantage, then was completely comfortable.
“Chris played well, with a 104 (average), but I just got off into that lead and he wasn’t able to catch me.. now it is on to the semi-finals tonight.”
In the opening match of the first session at the Butlin’s resort, Gerwyn Price closed out a 10-6 win over Daryl Gurney.
Welshman Price – the top seed because of his performances during the 34 Players Championship floor events across the the year – had struggled to shrug off Gurney, who edged in front at 6-5.
The Iceman, though, dug in with two breaks of throw before then taking out 117 – his third ton-plus checkout – to move into the semi-finals, where he will be up against Littler.
The other semi-final will be between Nathan Aspinall and Dutchman Jermaine Wattimena.
Aspinall held off a spirited fightback from Josh Rock to close out a 10-8 win, having raced into a 5-1 lead before the Northern Irishman rallied to level at 8-8.
Wattimena, in the quarter-finals of the tournament for the first time, beat James Wade 10-8, finishing with a superb 156.
The World Youth Championship final will also be held on Sunday evening after the semi-finals are completed.
Holder Gian van Veen, beaten by Krzysztof Ratajski in main draw on Saturday afternoon, takes on Women’s Series winner Beau Greaves – who had edged out Littler in Wigan last month to secure her spot on the main stage in Minehead.