Luke Littler shows he is ‘world champion for a reason’ at World Matchplay

As Luke Littler’s favourite D10 clattered into the board for an epic 13-11 tie-break win over Jermaine Wattimena at the World Matchplay, he let out a roar and pointed at the star on his shirt. It was a reminder that he is “world champion for a reason”.

Littler added that star back in January when he beat Michael van Gerwen on the biggest stage of all at Alexandra Palace, cementing himself as the youngest world champion in history and continuing his ascendency.

Now, he is focused on joining the exclusive club of ‘Triple Crown’ winners that have won the worlds, the Premier League, and the World Matchplay.

Phil Taylor, Van Gerwen, Gary Anderson, and Luke Humphries have that win in Blackpool – with an electrifying comeback win in the second round and a quarter-final awaiting, Littler is three wins away from adding himself to that list.

When he was 7-2 down to Wattimena, it looked like the Dutchman was about to produce the performance of his life to finally get a win against the teenager. Littler said ‘not so fast’.

After ‘The Nuke’ won six legs in a row and moved 8-7 in front, he held his nerve and went into the tie-break with the Winter Gardens crowd right on his side, holding his throw and then breaking Wattimena in the decisive moment to keep the dream alive.

For Littler, his celebration was a reminder that he is the best in the world “for a reason” and so can pull a fightback like that out of the bag.

It was also a reliever with the 18-year-old admitting he had not felt pressure that intense since he faced Ryan Joyce at the worlds back in December, Littler surviving a scare for a 4-3 win in the opening round of the tournament he went onto claim glory at.

“I’m a world champion for a reason, I find these gears when I need it,” he told Sky Sports.

“I’ve not felt pressure like that since the first round of the World Championships.

“I was a bit nervous but the crowd was unbelievable and it’s on to my third game here and I’ve won two of them.

“I want to get back on stage and right now I can’t wait to be in the quarter-final.

“If I didn’t go 7-3 it would have been a lot harder. But yeah, to go 7-3 I just said to myself you have got to win at least the next two or three legs when you come back on,” he added.

“It was just saying to myself, saying to the fans, I am World Champion for a reason, we come back. And for myself, I always find these gears somewhere.

“Obviously for myself I’d rather be blasted off into the lead like I did against Ryan Searle, but it wasn’t to be and I pulled it out of the bag.

“Probably since the Ryan Joyce game, I have not let that much emotion out of me since then. But it’s just good for myself to show the emotion and show that I can always find a way to come back.”

Next up for Littler in the quarter-finals is Andrew Gilding who came through with a barnstorming 11-5 win over Dirk van Duijvenbode with a brilliant 100 average.

‘The Nuke’ knows that ‘Goldfinger’ is not going to be an easy task and he is going to have to be up for another tough game in Blackpool, especially with their differing styles.

“Yeah, certainly, certainly is going to be a challenge. Obviously, the pace isn’t there for myself,” Littler said.

“Like I did when I faced him at my first Worlds, you have just got to find some sort of routine that you can get into. I am sure it will be a good game.”