Luke Littler is causing a stir. © ANP / JEROEN JUMELET

After a row with darts fans: Littler easily reaches the semi-finals

Darts world champion Luke Littler has confidently reached the semi-finals of the World Championship in his first match after the dispute with the fans in London.

01 January 2026

From: dpa/det

The 18-year-old Englishman won the match against the Pole Krzysztof Ratajski in record time with 5:0 and will face fellow countryman Ryan Searle in the round of the last four on Friday evening (from 8:30 pm).

In the third round, he had easily defeated Germany's number one, Martin Schindler, 4-0. In the quarterfinals, the man nicknamed "Heavy Metal" prevailed against Welshman Jonny Clayton 5-2.

Littler: I regret nothing

Littler received a few boos during his presentation at Alexandra Palace on New Year's Eve, but he brushed them off calmly and even interacted with the audience later. After his round of 16 match against former champion Rob Cross (4-2), Littler had clashed with the fans. "You pay for tickets and you pay my prize money. Thanks for booing me," Littler shouted towards the crowd, his face flushed.

Ahead of his clash with the Pole, the world champion defended himself in an interview with Sky Sports. "I said what I said. I wanted to say it sometime last year, but the fans paid for the tickets and they're pretty much paying our prize money too. So yeah, I don't regret anything," Littler explained. The young star could reach the final for the third time in his third World Cup appearance.