Luke Littler made the perfect start to his World Darts Championship defense with a 3-0 win over Darius Rabanaskas at Alexandra Palace.
Littler, who is aiming to become only the fourth player to successfully defend his title with Palace, showed what he is capable of against 2020 quarter-finalist Rabanaskas.
It was a merciless start from the world’s No. 1 player, who averaged 101.54 points and shot 64 percent in doubles, brushing aside Rabanaskas, who struggled with checkouts of more than two tons.
Littler will next face Belgium’s Mario Vandenbogarde or Welsh qualifier David Davis in the second round.
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After his win over Darius Rabanaskas, Luke Littler spent the beginning of his post-fight interview dodging the famous Alexandra Palace bee.
After his fight with Rabanaskas followed by his fight with Ally Parry Wasp, Littler told Sky Sports:
“You’re a little nervous, but when you come here and win leg and leg and then win the first set, you calm down and that first set is important. If you can win a set, that’s all that matters.”
“Everyone in the tournament wants to win the first round. It’s definitely the most difficult match. If you don’t play well, you can’t win.”
“After the first game, I now have 10 days off.”
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Darius Rabanaskas hits a stunning 130 bullseye checkout in the opening leg of his match against Luke Littler
In the first set, Rabanaskas pulled away from Littler all the way, producing a clutch 130 checkout, but “The Nuke” broke the throw with a 76 checkout on top in the final leg to seal the deal and show his family that everything was calm and in control with an average of 103.
Despite dropping the first set, Rabanaskas remained undefeated. He brought the 18-year-old into the decider again, but Littler stood firm and pinned favorite D10 with a 14-dart hold at a 2-0 advantage.
Littler came into his own in the third set, scoring a checkout for 124 on the bull, followed by 120 in quick succession with one leg off, before finishing the match with a D6.
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Luke Littler achieves 100+ consecutive finishes against Darius Labanauskas at the World Darts Championship
2023 champion Smith starts well with whitewash win over Ashton
Michael Smith continued his comeback fight from injury with a 3-0 win over Lisa Ashton.
The 2023 world champion had a good run at the Grand Slam, reaching the quarter-finals, but lost to Luke Humphries.
Returning to the stage where he knows how to perform well, ‘Bully Boy’ had to deal with the audience siding with Ashton.
Michael Smith wins against Lisa Ashton with seven consecutive leg outs
The ‘Lancashire Rose’ had Smith in the first set with a missed set dart to the bulls to give him a chance to decide, and from there the St Helens man built up his score, with some even winning five straight legs. He denied Ashton a chance to double, taking the second set and leading 2-0 in the third.
Ashton managed to punish the doubles failure and end the rot, sending the Ally Pally crowd into a frenzy, but it only delayed the inevitable, winning the doubles championship with an average of 91.19 points and a D18 success rate of 36 percent.
Smith will face either Niels Sonneveld of the Netherlands or Haupai Puha of New Zealand in the second round.
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Actor Jason Sudeikis was spotted at Alexandra Palace on the opening night of the World Darts Championship, adding to the party atmosphere
“I was very nervous in that first set. I didn’t want to lose the first set and I knew when I came back he was going to get louder and louder, so I forced myself to go 180, 180 and thought, ‘I’ve got 60 grand here,’ and I ended up missing,” Smith told Sky Sports.
“I had to stay focused. It wasn’t a great match. But I’m going to live with it, and I have 10 days off. I’ll come back now and the 20th and practice hard.”
“I had a bad butterfly this morning, but it was weird coming back here, having never had a year off here in 15 years, and getting back to my game. It was the first time this year that I felt 100 percent and then I didn’t play 100 percent.”
“The job is done. I’m focused on the next job. That’s the main thing right now.”
Arno Merk also made his Alexandra Palace debut with a 3-1 win over Kim Huybrechts.
After taking a slow break to decide the first set, Merk took three legs with a spin in the second set, then rallied from where the Belgian had taken the set on the board, winning all three legs in the fourth set for the biggest win of his career to date.
Madas Razma, on the other hand, ended their opening match with a 3-1 win over Jamais van den Herik.
There was obvious nervousness in Van den Herik’s debut, allowing the more experienced Lazma to gain an advantage in the first set, but the Dutchman managed to fight back and equalize. But then Razma proved too much, rattling off the next two sets en route to the victory.
What’s next?
The World Darts Championship takes place on Friday 12th December with two bumper sessions of opening round action.
The afternoon session will be live from 12.30pm and will feature Niels Sonnefeld vs. Haupai Puha, Ian White vs. Mervyn King, Ryan Searle vs. Chris Landman and Rob Cross vs. Coe Decker.
And in the evening session, Ross Smith takes on Andreas Harrison, Ricky Evans takes on Man Lok Leong, Jan Van Veen takes on Cristo Reyes and Damon Geta clashes with Steve Lennon.
Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch every match live and exclusively on Sky Sports’ dedicated darts channel (Sky channel 407) until January 3rd. Stream darts and other top sports now.
