RUTHLESS Luke Littler silenced the pre-game Ally Pally boo-boys as he cruised into the semi-finals of the PDC World Darts Championship for the third successive time.
The Nuke required just 33 minutes to whitewash Krzysztof Ratajski 5-0 in the third quarter-final on New Year’s Day.
The reigning world champion averaged 100.04, conceded just five legs, nailed ten 180s and hit four-ton plus finishes as he moved a step closer to the record £1million jackpot.
In his fourth-round victory over Rob Cross, Littler was angry with a certain section of German fans that had been abusing him and he raged in a live TV interview: “You guys pay for tickets and you pay for my prize money.”
The 18-year-old admitted he was fearing “the worst” for this last-eight contest, expecting that he could face prolonged negative crowd reception following that uncharacteristic on-stage outburst.
Yet it was not the negative bearpit he had worried it could have been as he moved into the last four – where he has earned £200,000 in prize money – for a meeting with No.20 seed Ryan Searle on Friday night.
Littler did receive a mixed reception when he walked out for his first game of 2026 – there were some boos, yes, but overwhelmingly there were cheers for his name.
Those fickle fans who had targeted him in his last appearance of 2025 were now singing his name, saying that they were “Walking in a Littler Wonderland”.
There were also autograph hunters and Littler made a point of signing their signs on the walk-on before he started the game.
The teen, who turns 19 this month, looked nervous for his 18th appearance at the PDC World Darts Championship in three campaigns because he did not know what sort of reaction he would get.
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After missing four set darts, the tension in his body was spectacularly released with a stunning 170 Big Fish finish to take out the opening set.
The No.1 seed opened up set two with a 128 finish on the Bull and then moved 2-0 up with a 100 checkout.
Littler enjoyed a spell of seven legs in a row, which also saw him claim set three with a 100.
Ratajski, known as the Polish Eagle, had darts in the deciding leg of set four but missed his chances and that was punished.
Littler, who hit more than 50% of his doubles, comfortably sealed his progression on double 10 and celebrated with a clap for the supporters.
On this evidence, it is going to take someone producing a stellar performance to stop Littler from going back-to-back at this North London Palace.
