Luke Littler is through to the fourth round of the World Darts Championship after overcoming another tough test to beat Ian White 4-1 at Alexandra Palace.
The pre-tournament favorite came through a tight opening set but lost the second to White, who missed a point to win three of the first four sets and was threatening a famous upset against the fourth seed.
Littler raced through the third set in just 39 darts and punished a missed set dart from White to seal the fourth with a check 70, then broke White in the next before closing out the win with a 14-darter.
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Littler got the better of White in a separate leg, where he finished off a check 88 on the bull
Littler posted a 97.84 average and top 12 against White, with the 17-year-old avoiding a repeat of the upsets seen in his second-round win against Ryan Meikle and retaining Last 16 meeting with Ryan Joyce on Monday.
Michael van Gerwen also booked his place in the fourth round as he came back from a set down to beat Brendan Dolan 4-2, with Chris Dobey also through after seeing off Josh Rock by the same margin.
How Littler came through White's trial
Littler opened with a 20-dart hold but went ahead when White capitalized on five missed darts at double to break, only for 'Diamond' to miss a set dart at tops before Littler plucked the opening with a 12-darter in a final-leg decider.
Luke Littler converted only 13 of 37 doubles chances against White
The pair exchanged several breakaways in another cage second, where Littler checked 114 before White took the next leg against the stingers to a point, but momentum swung back Littler's way in third place.
Littler followed dart legs 13 and 14 by pinning a bullseye for an 88 checkout to complete a commanding third set, with the 'Nuke' capitalizing on another missed set dart from White in the leg of end of fourth place to find checkout 70 and open. double-set buffer.
The teenager continued to miss doubles in the fifth set to extend White's hopes of extending the tournament, then threatened to seal victory with the 'Big Fish' before breaking his opponent with 25-finish.
“It was tough,” Littler said Sky Sports. “Ian threw everything at me. If I hit a 180, he hit back with a 180 so I had to stay on the switch. It was just a case of settling quickly. The first set was ok. But after the first break I was really up for it.
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Luke Littler describes his struggles to complete 10 doubles and 20 doubles in his match against Ian White.
“I don't think I liked D10 tonight and they didn't! I thought about switching to D18 or D16 but I stuck to the doubles I know and D10 got me home.”
MVG sees Dolan and Dobey marching on
Van Gerwen appeared on course to take the opening set when he claimed a break of throw in the third leg, only for Dolan to fire back-to-back 15 darters – including an 86 finish on the bull – to grab a shock lead.
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Michael van Gerwen put on a show by hitting a 129 checkout to break Brendan Dolan and take the second set
The Dutchman came through a scrappy 21-dart leg – despite missing seven darts at double – but wrapped up second in tight fashion in the next leg, firing in a 129 checkout for a 12-dart break, before quickly dominating the competition. .
Van Gerwen won eight consecutive legs – including a brilliant 149 checkout at the start of the fourth – to win the next two sets in straight legs, only for Dolan to capitalize on a wayward finish from three-time world champion to break a set and claim it. back in the fifth.
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Van Gerwen hit a 149 checkout in the opening set of the third set against Dolan
Dolan produced a brilliant checker 123 on the bull and missed an arrow in the next leg to take the tournament to a final decider, while Van Gerwen survived to hold the throw and secure a place in the next round.
“It was very difficult, a very difficult game,” Van Gerwen said Sky Sports. “I tried to punish him at the right times and I couldn't do it. I can only blame myself for that. I'm so glad that D8 went in at the end .”
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Van Gerwen said he has had a tough year and still has a lot of work to do
The opening match of the evening also provided a tight affair, where Dobey came from 2-1 down to claim a 4-2 victory against Rock and set up a last 16 meeting against either Kevin Doets or Krzysztof Ratajski.
Dobey responded to lose the third set by cruising through the fourth in straight legs and Rock survived to miss a set arrow in the fifth to face a final leg decider, before he sealed the victory with a brilliant double finish on the 19s and 96 checkouts. .
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Chris Dobey returns for the win with a double-double finish after Josh Rock puts the pressure on him with a 180 in their third round.
Afternoon summary: Aspinall breezes into last 16
Nathan Aspinall cruised to the last 16 for the first time in five years after beating Andrew Gilding in straight sets, setting up a meeting against Ricardo Pietreczko Monday.
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During Nathan Aspinall's match with Andrew Gilding, the Asp was slightly disturbed by the Alexandra Palace crowd as he stopped playing briefly to watch the antics at Ally Pally
Aspinall broke Gilding twice in the opening set and came through the final leg deciders to win the next two, before closing out an impressive win – where he averaged 92.17 and was clinical on the doubles – by taking out tops for a 14-dart break.
“I'm glad I can finish,” Aspinall said Sky Sports. “Usually I'm very bad at finishing, that's why I lose. Usually my scoring is not there. The last two matches I played, I finished very well, I didn't I scored well.”
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Nathan Aspinall blows the roof off Alexandra Palace as his walker gets the crowd on their feet for his match against Andrew Gilding at the 2025 World Darts Championships
Pietreczko continued his impressive run at the Worlds by seeing off last year's semi-finalist Scott Williams, winning both sets and racing through to fourth place in legs just before he won 4-1 with an amazing 121 goal on the bull.
The other match of the session went to a final decider, with Joyce blowing a two-set lead against Ryan Searle before reaching the fourth round for the first time since 2019.
“It was just a very tough game,” Joyce said Sky Sports. “I tried everything at the end to get through and I'm so glad I managed to find something in the tank in that last set.”
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Ryan Joyce fought off a comeback from Ryan Searle as he won 4-3 to go through to round four. Joyce also hit an impressive 113 checkout and there was a bump from Searle as he missed one 20 to leave tops, all in the final set.
What's next?
The third round concludes on Sunday, with Dimitri van den Bergh heading the evening session against Callan Rydz after Kevin Doets faces Krzysztof Ratajski and Jeffrey de Graff plays Paolo Nebrida at 12.30pm.
Ricky Evans takes on Robert Owen to open the evening session from 7pm, the final last-32 match of the tournament, before the fourth round kicks off later in the evening with a Welsh clash between Jonny Clayton and former champion of the Gerwyn Price universe.
Defending champion Luke Humphries will then face two-time world champion in the final match of the night, with the remaining six fourth-round matches being played on Monday before the finals – over two sessions – take place on the New Year.
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