Paddy Power World Championship – Semis & Final

The first semi-final threw together 2018 World Champion, and the 16-year-old sensation, Luke Littler. Cross took the first set 3-2, with winning legs of 15, 31, and 12. He came very close to making it 2-0, but his attempt at an 86 finish for the set just missed, and Littler levelled in 13, and won the set in 14-darts. At this point, it was nicely balanced, but the reality was that Cross was by far the stronger of the two. While the teenager was playing well, and averaging over a ton, the 33-year-old was sitting on a mighty 108.49!

Higher averages don’t always mean much, and two sets later, Littler had moved into a 3-1 lead. Cross closed the gap by taking the fifth set, but that was as close as he was to get. Littler was in the ascendancy now, and cleaned up the next three for a convincing 6-2 victory.

The stats told the story. Cross posted a fabulous average of 102.77, and hit ten 180’s, but his young opponent was up to 106.05, and had stuck in an incredible 16 maxes. Oh, and brilliant finishes of 142, 149, and 132 (DB, DB, D16).

Now, Luke Littler had to wait for the winner of Luke Humphries and Scott Williams. Humphries may have had a slight edge over the previous few rounds, but Williams had been remarkably consistent so far.

So, Williams maintained his consistency – but it was all to no avail as the World GP Champ hit 14 180’s on his way to an average of 108.74! As I said, it wasn’t that Williams played badly, but he failed to win a set. Not for the first time, it was Humphries’ finishing power that made the difference, as shown by outs of 121 (twice), 126, 136, and 170. His average in winning the fifth set was 122, which is all you need to know.

Onto the final, and it was Luke against Luke.

The first set went to Humphries. The second to Littler. The third to Humphries. The fourth to Littler.

The young man from Runcorn, Cheshire, then took control of the match, seizing the fifth set with an 11-darter. He won the next in 13, 15, and 15. Could we be seeing history made?

After the pair traded 12-darters, the seventh went to a decider. When Littler just failed to convert a 112 finish, Humphries made it 4-3. Another 12 from the new World # 1 – with the aid of a 121 check – made it 4-4. The ninth set went to a deciding leg, and again it was Humphries who prevailed, this time with an 11-dart leg. The tenth set was won with a 12 – thrown by Humphries.

He was really on a roll now, and was one set from a famous victory. Littler was still in there battling, but Humphries was pretty much one step ahead of him. The first four legs of the eleventh set went with the throw, and with Littler having the darts in the decider, it looked like he could prolong the match. From 167, he hit 139 to leave 128. Humphries was on 125, and went bull first. He doubled it. No problem. Just stay there, hit the single, and then you have another DB for the match. Ony thing is, he doubled it with the second dart also! S9 left D8, and Littler had three at 28 to take us into set # 12. When he retrieved his darts, he still required 14…

Luke Humphries hit the D8 to seal a fantastic victory after an incredible couple of weeks of darts. We have seen the emergence of a new World Champion and World # 1, and the emergence of a young lad who ALMOST became a World Champion at 16 years of age. Final averages were Littler 101.13, and Humphries 103.67. The latter also fired in 23 180’s, and both players recorded a 170 out in the match.

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