Luke Littler hits sensational nine-darter to spark comeback win against Josh Rock and reach World Matchplay Darts final
The teen sensation beat pal Josh Rock 17-14 in the semi-final in a
Winter
Gardens classic.
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4
Luke Littler celebrates hitting a nine-darter
Credit: Getty
4
Josh Rock came out of the blocks flying
Credit: Getty
4
Littler didn't always have things his own way during the Blackpool contest
Credit: Getty
In the eighth leg of the match, both players hit 180s with their opening six darts.
Then
history
.
It rivals the famous
Championship
final - but on that occasion MVG missed a dart at a double.
Best pals Littler and Rock celebrated the magic moment together on stage as the crowd chucked their beers into the air as history was made.
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It was also a Matchplay record with 29 180s in one match.
Littler said: 'The nine definitely sparked me into life. I didn't want to give it big. I was playing awful.
'Everyone knows about the triple crown. But James (Wade) you can't put anything past him, he's been playing brilliant darts.
'Having that winning feeling over him at the UK Open it will give me some confidence. I've been in many finals and won majors but this is the big one now.'
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4
James Wade won a marathon match vs Jonny Clayton
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Earlier in the day, Wade admitted he 'hated every minute' as he reached his SEVENTH World Matchplay final.
The World No.8 was cruising at 16-10 ahead before a fierce
Jonny
Clayton fightback to take it to a tie-break at 16-16.
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Luke Littler sends blunt message to Gary Anderson as darts star hits back at 'boring' jibe
But Wade somehow found an extra gear to take out double nine to win a marathon encounter 20-18.
Wade said: 'I'm just done. There's two amazing, wonderful dart players in the world. That's
'I've just watched up there and I averaged 102. Flabbergasted!
'Unfortunately with darts today you are surrounded by great players that are full of massive talent.
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'I just think Jonny let me off at the last minute. But to be fair I let him off before that.
Read more on the Irish Sun
'I'm exhausted after that. I thought that was a good game. When I saw the averages I didn't think it was that good.
'I hope the crowd enjoyed themselves. I hated every single minute of it.'
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