Luke Littler narrowly avoided a first-round exit at the Winmaw World Masters after surviving match darts with a dramatic win over Mike Dekker in Milton Keynes.
Littler has won six of the eight ranked PDC major television titles in the past 12 months, including a successful World Championship title defense, but suffered a major scare in the tournament opener at Arena MK.
The 19-year-old came close to making an incredible nine-darter during a fast-paced and eventful match, with Dedecker winning consecutive sets but missing the match dart to win 3-1 before Littler staged a late comeback.
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De Dekker misses a match dart against Littler and the Belgian struggles as he closes in on a 142 checkout.
Littler, who hit seven maximums and averaged 98.62 points, broke De Dekker to take the match to a deciding set, winning both legs and winning 3-2, setting up a second round match against Ross Smith.
Defending champions Luke Humphries and Josh Lock came back from a set down to defeat Dave Chisnall and Connor Scutt respectively, while Danny Knoppert and Stephen Bunting also got off to a winning start by the same margin.
Littler overcomes great fear in master’s thriller
The world No. 1 showed off his form from the start with a 13-dart hold and recovered from a mistake on his next set dart to take the lead in the deciding leg, but De Dekker leveled the match with a stunning 121 finish on the bullseye.
Littler’s wayward finishing meant he only hit 6 of 19 doubles, but De Dekker pinched a break en route to taking the third set, and the Belgian held his throw in the first leg of the next set, moving one step closer to his famous victory.
Littler and Decker produced five sets of thrillers.
Littler struggled through the first nine darts of the tournament, missing D15 with eight perfect darts, but Dedecker wasted a match dart on D11 to finish at 142 and take the set on the next leg.
De Dekker never recovered from his missed opportunity, and Littler won the next two legs (a best-of-three-leg tournament format) to continue his pursuit of one of only two PDC TV Majors on his resume.
“It was a big deal,” Ms Littler told ITV. “I couldn’t go there. Mike (DeDecker) deserved to win the second and third set. I had to fight back and that’s what I did.”
“I was a little bit (nervous) because it was 1-2 (legs per set) instead of 1-3. I got over the line, found some form and got the win.”
Littler and Decker produced five sets of thrillers.
Humphries wins title defense
Humphries averaged 104.13 points in his win over Chisnall, crashing seven 180s in just 10 legs. Despite wasting five set darts in the opening match, he won the next three sets in a row.
Humphries, ranked second in the world, looked to improve his finishing ability against Luke Woodhouse and despite missing 13 of 20 double shots, he made 12 and 11 dart legs to shake off Chisnall.
Luke Humphries aims to become the first player since Michael van Gerwen to win the event consecutively
“My scoring was top-notch, but I need to improve my doubles,” Humphries said. “It’s always great to be the defending champion in any tournament.
“I have good memories from last year and I want to make more memories this year. It’s a competitive tournament. If I don’t hit the doubles, I’m going to put pressure on myself, but I’m really happy with the way that match ended.”
Woodhouse averaged a brilliant 108.64 to defeat German No. 1 Martin Schindler in straight sets, Knoppert beat Darryl Gurney 3-1 and Bunting dispatched Jeffrey de Graaf by the same scoreline.
Stephen Bunting won this tournament in 2024, before the format changed.
Former world champion Rob Cross defeated world championship semi-finalist Ryan Searle 3-1 to set up a last-16 showdown with Locke, while Smith beat Dutch debutant Jimmy Van See to book Saturday’s encounter with Littler.
Winmau World Masters: Saturday Round 2 Schedule
Afternoon session (13:00 GMT)
round 2 x4
best of 7 set
Damon Heta v Chris Dobie
Gary Anderson vs James Wade
Jan van Veen vs Nathan Aspinall
Johnny Clayton v Gerwyn Price
Evening session (19:00 GMT)
round 2 x4
best of 7 set
Rob Cross v Josh Locke
Stephen Bunting v Danny Knoppert
Luke Littler vs Ross Smith
Luke Humphries v Luke Woodhouse
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