Luke Littler survived an almighty scare to overcome a game Ryan Joyce at the World Darts Championship.
Littler prevailed 4-3 in a thrilling fourth round encounter against Joyce, although it was far from straightforward for the teenage talent.
Although Littler racked up high scores early on, he proved to be rather wayward when it came to his checkouts.
After just two sets, Littler had missed a whopping 14 out of 19 double attempts for a percentage of 26 per cent.
As for Joyce, he had just five double attempts in the first two sets but nailed four of them.
The missed doubles continued to plague Littler and allowed Joyce to be the proverbial pest, constantly biting at the 17-year-old’s heels.
It’s why Littler let out an almighty roar when he won the fifth set to take a 3-2 lead, knowing he was one away from victory and a berth in the quarter finals.
The drama continued in the sixth set as the pair continued to trade legs.
Littler had the chance to wrap things up with a match dart at D20 in the fifth and deciding leg, but he misfired.
Joyce leapt through the window of opportunity to take it to a deciding set, escalating the tension inside the Alexandra Palace.
However, Littler ensured there would be no such upset, storming home with a wet sail to dominate the final set and emerge victorious in a rollercoaster contest that lasted just shy of 50 minutes.
Littler ultimately finished with his highest three-dart average of the tournament with 103.14, eclipsing his second-round figure of 100.85.
“I think I went into tenth gear at one point, I had to,” Littler said after the match.
“I just said to Ryan, ‘I thought you didn’t have your power scoring’. He threw everything at me.”
Littler continued: “I just wanted him to miss… but I’m happy to win.”
The 17-year-old will now face close pal and stablemate Nathan Aspinall in the quarter finals.
Littler will fancy his chances at glory with Luke Humphries, who defeated him in last year’s final, crashing out of the tournament with a defeat to Peter Wright on Sunday.
