Luke Littler is eyeing the Grand Slam of Darts title after coming from 8-4 down to beat Mike de Decker and reach the quarter-finals, with the Belgian having been one dart away from winning
Luke Littler produced a sensational comeback to beat Mike de Decker and reach the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam of Darts – later admitting that a change in approach was behind the win.
Littler found himself 8-4 and then 9-7 down to the Belgian in the race to 10 legs. De Decker was actually one dart away from winning, but missed the bullseye when trying to check out from 170.
But his 17-year-old opponent mounted a late rally to win three successive legs and claim a stunning win. That sent him into the final eight of the tournament, where he will face Jermaine Wattimena.
Earlier in the year, De Decker beat reigning world champion Luke Humphries to win the World Grand Prix. He got off to a fast start on Thursday night, averaging over 116 and breaking Littler twice to take a 4-3 lead.
The Englishman did then finally find a crucial break of his own to level the match at 4-4. But De Decker broke straight back when Littler could not find the bullseye to finish off his checkout.
The Belgian broke Littler again to cement his advantage with an under-pressure 110 checkout. Littler looked down and out when De Decker hit tops to take a four-leg lead.
But the Englishman showed why he is seen as the sport’s wonderkid when he capitalised on a De Decker slip up to close the score to 8-6. He then held his throw on tops to bring himself within a leg of De Decker.
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De Decker got back on top when he held his throw in the next leg to go 9-7 up. Littler found his groove though and began firing in maximums to break De Decker and take the match to a deciding leg.
In that final leg, Littler slowed down and held his nerve and nailed treble 18, double 16, to seal victory and a place in the last eight. He was left breathing a sigh of relief following the match, admitting he had not enjoyed it.
“I don’t know if I enjoyed that. I’ve got to feel for Mike. I didn’t think I was in the game, but I know I can always switch that gear,” Littler told Sky Sports.
“Early on I was at my normal pace but towards the end I was taking an extra second, and that helped me. I might have to throw like that from now on. I didn’t think I could overturn the deficit [in the final session]. I just can’t believe it.”
Meanwhile, Wattimena progressed by winning a 10-9 thriller of his own against Dimitri van den Bergh. And Gian van Veen cruised to a 10-2 win over Ryan Joyce to set up a meeting with Gary Anderson, who clinched a 10-6 victory over Stephen Bunting.
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