Africa-Press – Kenya. An emotional Luke Littler was beaten by Michael van Gerwen despite leading 4-0 in the quarter-finals on night 12 of Premier League Darts in Liverpool.
The teenager posted on social media on Wednesday to say “bring on the boos Liverpool” because of his support for Manchester United – and he got the reception he expected.
However he brushed that off and raced into a 4-0 lead against seven-time Premier League winner Van Gerwen and averaged more than 20 points higher per visit than the Dutchman.
The 18-year-old missed a dart at bullseye for 5-0 and that allowed Van Gerwen to reduce the deficit to 4-3.
Littler took out a stunning 160 to move a leg away and nodded to the crowd before gesturing to them to calm down.
He missed match darts at tops and double 10 in leg nine and Van Gerwen was able to win that and the subsequent two legs to win 6-5.
Littler was visibly emotional as he left the stage but he will stay top of the eight-player table regardless of who wins in Liverpool and remains on track to qualify for the end-of-season play-offs on 29 May.
Littler, who was targeting a record fifth nightly win of the season, could have his lead cut to two points if world number one Luke Humphries wins the evening.
Humphries, who Littler beat in last year’s grand final, saw off Nathan Aspinall 6-3 in the opening quarter-final in a stunning performance.
He averaged 113.5, took out 66.7% of his checkouts and controlled Aspinall, who himself averaged 104.03 and was 75% on the double.
It was another tricky night for bottom-of-the-table Stephen Bunting as he was brushed aside 6-1 in a dominant win for 2018 world champion Rob Cross.
The last quarter-final saw Gerwyn Price beat last week’s winner Chris Dobey 6-2 with an average of 106.74.
For More News And Analysis About Kenya Follow Africa-Press
