Luke Littler delivered a statement against Mensur Suljović with a 4-0 victory in the third round of the World Darts Championship.
The world number one from Warrington averaged 107 with 77% success on the doubles to deliver a “vintage” Littler performance at Alexandra Palace.
Littler dominated the first set leaving no breathing room for the Austrian, winning every leg to steamroll his way into the second set.
“The Nuke” quickly set the tone, taking his total of 180s up to four and 140+ scores to five by this point.
His pressure was relentless as he took the first two legs and checked out 105 to make light work of the Austrian.
Suljović asked the crowd to cheer him on as he threw his last dart at double to win his first leg of the match in the second leg of set three.
The Austrian aimed to create a shock in a close fourth leg that saw him check out 41 to make it two legs apiece.
Sadly for “The Gentle”, Littler decided to come in clutch and roared on as he hit 180, refusing to give up a set.
He checked out 124, leaving Suljović in disbelief, who could do nothing but look on at the spectacle the Englishman was producing.
Suljović salvaged what he could, taking out 80 to win the second leg of the fourth set, averaging a respectable 97.59 at this stage.
But with one leg a piece in what was to be the final set, Littler was up for no games.
He checked out 114 to make it two legs to one averaging an astonishing 73% on the doubles, before winning the last leg of the match with ease.
In his post match interview, Littler said:”I had no nerves whatsoever and let my darts do the talking.
“Moving forward, I’ve got to do is turn up and put on another performance like that.”
When asked about his state of mind, Littler added: “I’m still on this absolute rollercoaster, as long as I keep playing like that, I’m happy, my sponsors are happy and more importantly, my family are happy.”
On the topic of maintaining his motivation in the long term, Littler said: “I just want to win one of every major, tick everything off and then build on it.
“Obviously I won the grand-slam back to back so I know how to defend a title.
After three convincing wins, Littler will now face fellow Premier League rival and number 17 in the world Rob Cross for a spot in the quarter-finals.
Click here to see Littler answer our questions:
