Luke Littler suffered a shock exit to Andrew Gilding in one of many shocks of the yr on the Machineseeker European Championship in Dortmund on Friday.
Littler, 17, was making his European Championship debut, however Gilding dumped out the Premier League champion 6-4 with a 98.92 common, three maximums and 35 per cent checkout success.
Defeat for an out-of-sorts Littler was his third consecutive first-round exit in a ranked TV main.
“It’s the last thing I expected really, especially with the way Luke has played lately,” conceded the previous UK Open champion.
“It is the third time I’ve performed Luke, and tonight it was a case of third time fortunate!
“This is a huge win for me. I was thinking about my flight home tomorrow to be honest, but maybe that helped me to relax!”
Gilding surged right into a 3-0 lead, successful the opening leg with a neat 76 checkout earlier than finishing a 12-darter after which taking out a top quality 79 end.
Littler obtained on the board within the fourth leg and after ‘Goldfinger’ missed two darts to increase his lead, the Warrington ace punished his opponent to shut the hole with a two-dart mixture end on 72.
‘The Nuke’ appeared visibly annoyed after spaying a couple of unfastened darts, however he stayed centered to sink double 10 and make it 3-3 in a dramatic encounter.
Suffolk star Gilding edged forward with a superb 11-darter and after lacking the bullseye for a 5-3 lead, Littler rescued the leg with a neat 64 checkout on double prime.
Gilding moved one away from an enormous upset as Littler did not land double 18 for an enormous 156 end.
And the 53-year-old quickly accomplished a outstanding victory by cleansing up 47 to achieve the second spherical the place he’ll play residence favorite Ricardo Pietreczko.
In addition to the remaining three PDC ProTour occasions, Littler will return to motion on the Grand Slam of Darts reside on Sky Sports activities earlier than he takes half within the Gamers Championship Finals in Minehead.
He’ll then look to go one higher than he did in January by successful the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace from December 15 till January 3.
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Highlights of the World Grand Prix 2024 between Luke Humphries and Mike De Decker
Reigning champion Peter Wright was hammered 6-0 by Jermaine Wattimena, whereas world No 1 Luke Humphries confirmed his class in overcoming Nathan Aspinall 6-2.
Humphries produced a surprising 106.49 common in hitting seven 180s.
James Wade gained the battle of two former European champions with a 6-3 victory over Rob Cross.
Jonny Clayton defeated Chris Dobey 6-4 and Danny Noppert noticed off Joe Cullen 6-2.
Newly-crowned World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker cruised previous sixth seed Josh Rock 6-1.
Ricardo Pietreczko edged Damon Heta 6-5 to ebook a last-16 date with Gilding.
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Watch Littler’s nine-darter from all angles as ‘The Nuke’ hit perfection on Premier League Finals evening
2024 Machineseeker European Championship
Friday October 25
First Spherical
Danny Noppert 6-2 Joe Cullen
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Chris Dobey
James Wade 6-3 Rob Cross
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-5 Damon Heta
Jermaine Wattimena 6-0 Peter Wright
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Luke Littler
Luke Humphries 6-2 Nathan Aspinall
Mike De Decker 6-1 Josh Rock
Saturday October 26
Afternoon Session (11.45pm)
Second Spherical x4
Ryan Searle vs Luke Woodhouse
Dirk van Duijvenbode vs Daryl Gurney
Michael Smith vs Ritchie Edhouse
Mike De Decker vs Danny Noppert
Night Session (6pm)
Second Spherical x4
Michael van Gerwen vs Gary Anderson
James Wade vs Jermaine Wattimena
Luke Humphries vs Jonny Clayton
Andrew Gilding vs Ricardo Pietreczko
Better of 19 legs
What reside darts is subsequent on Sky Sports activities?
Luke Humphries claimed his maiden Grand Slam of Darts title final yr
Stay darts returns to Sky Sports activities with the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton from November 9-17 as Luke Humphries appears to be like to defend his title with Littler and Beau Greaves additionally in motion.
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Humphries nailed this 91 end to defeat Rob Cross 16-8 and win his first Grand Slam of Darts title
Consideration then turns to the flip of the yr and the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship, starting on December 15, because the darts calendar continues to supply pleasure all year long – and you may get pleasure from the easiest right here reside on Sky Sports activities.
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