World Series of Darts finals: Littler beats Van Barneveld to reach last eight
Teenager Luke Littler edged past Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 to reach the last eight of the World Series of Darts finals in Amsterdam.
Littler, 17, raced into a 3-1 lead against the 57-year-old Dutchman but struggled to press home his advantage.
Van Barneveld cut the deficit to one leg on three occasions, before Littler clinched victory with an 86 checkout in the 10th.
Littler will now face a quarter-final on Sunday against fellow Englishman Chris Dobey, who beat Croatia’s Boris Krcmar 6-4.
World champion Luke Humphries is also through after a nervy 6-5 win over Australia’s Damon Heta.
Humphries will take on defending champion Michael van Gerwen, who beat fellow Dutchman Danny Noppert 6-3.
England’s Rob Cross and compatriot Michael Smith both survived scares before also reaching the quarter-finals.
Dutchman Kevin Doets missed four match darts when 5-3 up in the ninth leg against Cross, who then reeled off three straight legs to progress 6-5.
Another Dutchman, Wessel Nijman, missed three match darts when 5-3 up against Smith, and a further three with the match level at 5-5, before the world number two edged through.
Northern Ireland’s Daryl Gurney beat Welshman Gerwyn Price 6-3 to set up a last eight meeting with Scotland’s Peter Wright, who beat Canada’s Jeff Smith 6-2.
