Luke Littler embraces ruthless streak in face of hostile Alexandra Palace crowd

By Jonathan Veal, PA

Luke Littler knows developing a nasty streak at the oche could help fire him to the World Championship title.

The teen sensation made it through to the fourth round with victory over Ian White on Saturday, where he was fired up by the Alexandra Palace crowd cheering on his opponent.

Littler responded by throwing a 180 and also took advantage of several key misses by White on his way to a 4-1 win, despite being far from his best.

Photos say it all🙌🏼 feels good to get the win and be in the next round, see you on Monday❤️🎯 pic.twitter.com/hiOheEPlO6

— Luke Littler (@LukeTheNuke180) December 29, 2024

“It’s good for me to show I can be ruthless. I am not a nice person on the board, I don’t think anyone else is,” Littler said.

“It doesn’t hurt to have that bit of aggression and be ruthless.

“It’s always good to have a test as you go through the rounds. You don’t want to be cruising through, obviously I’d love to but when you have got a challenge like that you know you have to step up.

“You have got to play well, whoever you face. If I sort those doubles out I’ll be fine.”

🗣️ "I know I can do a lot better, but in set-play, it's all about winning."

Luke Littler recaps his 4-1 victory over Ian White, and looks ahead to an intriguing last 16 clash against Ryan Joyce! #WCDarts pic.twitter.com/s2XTSR6hds

— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 28, 2024

Next up for Littler is world number 33 Ryan Joyce, who claims Littler will not even need to be at his best to win.

Littler refused to fall for the mind games, though.

“I didn’t know he said that,” he said.

“But if that’s what he’s thinking it’s not really good for his game, but I just have to focus on my game and see how it goes on the day.”