LUKE “The Nuke” Littler has given himself a chance of a second EuroTour title of his maiden year on tour.
Warrington’s teenage sensation has reached the last 16 of the Austrian Darts Open as his excellent week continued having picked up his third nightly win in this year’s Premier League in Liverpool on Thursday.
The final stages of the tournament will be played today, with Littler facing Poland’s Krzysztof Ratajski in the fifth of eight ties to be played in the afternoon session in Graz, which starts at midday UK time.
The winner of the tie will face either Josh Rock or Danny Noppert in the quarter-finals.
The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will be played in tonight’s evening session, which starts at 6pm UK time with the action broadcast live on Viaplay and streamed via PDCTV.
Littler booked his spot with a blistering performance against Damon Heta, beating him 6-2 to gain revenge for his defeat to the Australian in the UK Open quarter finals.
There was nothing to separate the pair following a subdued start, but Littler found his range in some style, reeling off four straight legs in 11, 11, 12 and 12 darts to triumph with a 106 average.
“In the first few legs me and Damon weren’t at our best, but I managed to switch on,” reflected Littler, a winner at the Belgian Darts Open in March.
“I’m really happy with the way I played in those last four legs. When you find it, you just find it, and hopefully I can play like that tomorrow.”
Littler opened his tournament on Friday with a professional display against local qualifier Zoran Lerchbacher to record a 6-2 win.
Austrian Darts Open 2024 schedule of play
Sunday April 28
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Third Round
Dave Chisnall v Joe Cullen
Ritchie Edhouse v Gian van Veen
Daryl Gurney v Stephen Bunting
Jonny Clayton v Martin Schindler
Luke Littler v Krzysztof Ratajski
Josh Rock v Danny Noppert
Daniel Klose v Ross Smith
Michael van Gerwen v Peter Wright
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Quarter-Finals
Chisnall/Cullen v Edhouse/Van Veen
Gurney/Bunting v Clayton/Schindler
Littler/Ratajski v Rock/Noppert
Klose/R Smith v Van Gerwen/Wright
Semi-Finals
Chisnall/Cullen/Edhouse/Van Veen v Gurney/Bunting/Clayton/Schindler
Littler/Ratajski/Rock/Noppert v Klose/R Smith/Van Gerwen/Wright
Final
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