LUKE LITTLER broke down in tears and cut short a TV interview due to emotion – after nearly hitting his first Ally Pally nine-dart.
Nuke was so overwhelmed by what he did after his 3-1 win over Ryan Meikle in the second round of the PDC World Darts Championship that he was speechless.
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Luke Littler broke down in tears after the win
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He ended the interview after he failed to complete the answer to the first question
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Littler tried to pull himself together, but Sky Sports did not continue the interviewCredit: Sky Sports
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He hugged his parents as the crowd chanted his name
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The fourth tennis player in the world has advanced to the next round of the World Darts ChampionshipCredit: Getty
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Littler is under pressure as the favorite to win the Ally Pally title
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He was a millimeter away from hitting the bow with nine arrowsCredit: PA
Minutes after missing a perfect leg in the fourth set, the tournament favorite was put in front of the Sky Sports camera.
Littler, 17, said “I started very slow…” to reporter Abigail Davies, but then stopped speaking and had to walk away to wipe away tears.
Sky decided to stop talking and left the stage and hugged his parents in the VIP seats.
He missed the chance to win a £60,000 bonus as he rolled double 12s.
And his average in that final outstanding set – 140.91 – was the record for a single set of darts in the recorded history of the World Championships.
After regaining his composure, Littler said, “It was the hardest game I’ve ever played. I had to fight until the end. It’s good to be back.
“This is the worst game I have played. Maybe as nervous as I was in my first Premier League game.
“My butt was a little nervous on that stage at the beginning.
“After the first question, the tears started. I thought to myself: What am I doing? There was a little too much talking on stage.”
Littler was not at his razor best in the first two sets against Suffolk razor Meikle and looked vulnerable as he kept missing triple 20s.
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This is despite the first set in the fifth leg ending with a showman 100 checkout.
Meikle, 28, had two darts on double 12 to take the first lead, then the world No. 62 leveled the match admirably at 1-1.
But then the Warrington ace went on a mad, electrifying run over the next five minutes.
Littler hit six perfect darts in the opening stretch of the fourth set, and the crowd was dreaming of possible nine darts, but the seventh shooter did not follow suit.
In the next leg, he almost hit the nine-dart shooter and was so close to double.
Paddy Power is giving away £180,000 every time a nine-dart game comes up in the 16-day tournament.
They will give £60,000 to the player who achieves the feat, £60,000 to the charity Prostate Cancer UK and £60,000 to one fan.
If he hits another, it will be his fifth in 2024 and would be a record for a professional player.
His third round match after Christmas will be against either Ritchie Edhouse, the European champion, or Ian White.
If Littler does better than last time, he would – at 17 – be the youngest person in history to lift one of the PDC or BDO world crowns.
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