Littler powers into Grand Slam semi-finals
Luke Littler is playing at the Grand Slam of Darts for the first time
- Published
Luke Littler powered into the last four of the Grand Slam of Darts with a dominant 16-2 win over Jermaine Wattimena.
The 17-year-old was in devastating form in Wolverhampton against his Dutch opponent with seven 180s in the opening five legs of the match, and in the second leg was only denied a nine-dart finish by missing double 12.
Littler will face former world champion Gary Anderson for the first time in Sunday's semi-finals, after the Scot beat Gian van Veen of the Netherlands 16-14.
Anderson, 53, trailed 4-2 early on against his 22-year-old opponent but rattled off seven of the next eight legs to take control.
Van Veen closed the gap to one leg on five occasions, but Anderson dug in and looked strong on his own throw as he reached the semi-finals for the seventh time.
Littler, who claimed a narrow 10-9 victory over Mike de Decker in the last 16, did not allow Wattimena into the match, setting up opportunities before ruthlessly taking them.
He had checkouts of 167, 164, 110 and 110 to reach his fourth major semi-final of the year.
"I felt confident coming in tonight," Littler told Sky Sports. "I played so well and I'm happy. Fair play to Jermaine but I was too good tonight."
Sunday's other semi-final pits Mickey Mansell of Northern Ireland against Englishman Martin Lukeman.