Łukasz Małyr he didn’t mind Ryan Joyce on Monday evening at Alexandra Palace. But showing off his fighting prowess as well as his brilliance, Littler ultimately defeated his tenacious opponent 4-3 to set up a meeting with Nathan Aspinall in the 2025 quarterfinals PDC World Darts Championships.
“It was a very difficult match. We both played very well,” Littler admitted honestly at the post-match press conference, happy to be able to give Joyce plenty of well-deserved praise. “Ryan said he had no score, but he was right behind me in every match I won! Ryan won’t be happy with the result, but I think he should be happy with the way he played.
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As mentioned, the Aspinall stalemate now awaits Littler and without Luke Humphries the tournament may be starting to open up for the 17-year-old. “It will probably clear the way for me, but I’ll still be hampered by Nathan Aspinall in the quarter-finals,” Littler said of Humphries’ shock exit.
“There were expectations no matter what, even if Luke had survived,” he adds. “I made it through and all eyes would still be on me, but Nathan was in the way. He will be the best man in the world tonight, I expect him to play very well, we have played against each other many times, we know how we can play, but this is the quarter-final of the World Cup, so may the best man win that day. “
Littler is the tournament favorite among bookmakers
Few expected reigning champion Humphries to be knocked out before the quarter-finals, but thanks to a resurgent Peter Wright rolling back the years on Sunday evening, the world number one was indeed gone. Despite the excitement surrounding the match, it seems it wasn’t enough to keep Littler delighted.
“I slept through the entire evening session,” he laughs, explaining. “I went to bed from about 7pm to 2am, checked my phone, saw the result and thought, ‘Really?!’ I missed the whole match.”
