Littler beats De Decker in Players quarter-finals

Luke Littler maintained his brilliant form to reach the Players Championship semi-finals in Minehead with a 10-3 win over Mike de Decker.

The 17-year-old sealed victory with a bullseye finish to check out on 124, leaving his opponent to shake his head and smile at his opponent’s smooth dominance.

“I’m very happy with another good performance. I’m still young – I just enjoy every minute of it on the big stage. Confidence is very high, my darts are going in so well,” the English teenager told ITV4.

Littler is seeking his 11th title of his first professional year and second major TV ranking triumph this month after claiming the Grand Slam trophy a week ago.

He will play Scott Williams or Ross Smith later for a place in the final, which also takes place on Sunday evening.

Luke Humphries, who beat Littler in the World Championship final in January, faces Ryan Joyce on Sunday afternoon for a spot in the last four.

Littler averaged 103.73 with a 59% checkout success against World Grand Prix champion De Decker.

It was a rematch after the Englishman came back from 8-4 down to win their Grand Slam encounter 10-9, but the Belgian did not reach the same level this time and Littler rarely looked threatened after breaking his opponent’s first throw.

Littler was so dominant that when he calmly checked out on 85 with a bullseye to go 8-3 ahead, De Decker could only smile to himself.

It was one of three bull finishes for Littler, now provisionally up another place to fourth in the PDC’s Order of Merit, having been ranked 164 a year ago.

Littler, who grew up in Warrington, Cheshire, is the bookmakers’ favourite for the World Championship. The draw takes place on Monday (16:30 GMT) for the event, which starts on 15 December.