Emotional moment tearful Luke Littler, 17, breaks down in his parents’ arms after cutting interview short at darts
LUKE LITTLER broke down in his parents’ arms at the end of his first win back at Ally Pally.
The teen sensation overcame a slow start to beat Ryan Meikle after averaging 140.91 to produce the best set of darts ever seen in the World Darts Championship.
But Littler was an emotional mess right after his win and he was unable to complete his post-match interview.
He managed only a few words as he tried to fight back the tears, before breaking down and turning away from Sky Sports reporter Abigail Davies.
The world number four took some time to compose himself but the interview did not restart.
Instead Littler walked over to his parents Lisa and Anthony Buckley and buried his face in their arms.
Meanwhile the Ally Pally faithful serenaded him with: “There’s only one Luke Littler.”
Littler took a few deep breathes and applauded his adoring fans as he headed to the dressing room, safe in the knowledge he will be returning to the Palace after Christmas.
The Nuke will face the winner of Ritchie Edhouse vs Ian White and on this form he will be fancied to go one further than last year by winning the title.
Littler got off to a slow start but managed to steal the first set by breaking Meikle’s throw in the fifth leg.
He then exchanged sets with the barber from Suffolk before unleashing an incredible display to set Ally Pally alight.
First he hit back-to-back one 180s to set up the chance of a nine-darter, but fell short and had to settle for an 11-darter.
But he followed that up by repeating his 180 trick, found the target with his next two darts before his ninth finished millimetres away of double 12.
The third leg followed in a similar vein to confirm Littler’s progression to the next round.