Luke Littler advanced to the quarter-finals of the World Matchplay with a commanding 11-8 victory over Nathan Aspinall at Winter Gardens in Blackpool. The world number one opened the match with a nine-darter, completing a perfect leg with a finish on double 15. The performance drew an enthusiastic response from the crowd, with Aspinall reacting with good humor to the impressive display.
Littler came close to achieving a second nine-darter in the fourth leg, leaving himself with double 15 before narrowly missing the target. Aspinall responded to the pressure with competitive play, managing to level the match at 7-7 before Littler reasserted control by winning the next three legs. Though Aspinall mounted another brief comeback, Littler ultimately secured victory when Aspinall missed tops in the 19th leg, allowing the defending champion to checkout 52.
Littler’s performance featured an average of 113.68, the second highest in the tournament’s history, alongside 14 maximum 180-point scores. Following his victory, Littler expressed satisfaction with both the nine-darter and the overall quality of the contest. He acknowledged Aspinall’s competitive nature and indicated his focus would shift to preparing for his next opponent. Littler will face Josh Rock in the quarter-finals, with the pair having previously met in last year’s Matchplay semi-final.
In other quarter-final matches, Josh Rock defeated Stephen Bunting 11-6, Gary Anderson beat Jonny Clayton 11-7, and Dirk van Duijvenbode eliminated Michael van Gerwen 14-12 in an all-Dutch encounter. Van Gerwen had fought back from 8-4 down to level the match at 10-all before Van Duijvenbode closed out the win.
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