Historic comeback before the next Littler show
16-year-old Luke Littler has reached the semi-finals of the World Darts Championship. But the afternoon at London's Ally Pally was not only historic because of the English super talent: Littler's next opponent Rob Cross completes the greatest comeback of all time.
The darts year 2024 begins at the World Championship in London's Alexandra Palace just as the previous year ended: with an epic marathon match that even eclipsed the next victory of 16-year-old super talent Luke Littler. For the first time in the history of the World Darts Championship, a player came from 4-0 down to win. 2018 World Champion Rob Cross achieved the incredible comeback in the afternoon in an all-English duel with Chris Dobey.
"The Voltage", as Cross is known due to his former profession as an electrician, was seemingly hopelessly behind against Dobey, but then Cross set off on the way to his historic masterpiece. The 2018 World Champion survived a match dart from Dobey at 2:4 in the seventh set, then finally fought his way back and took the lead for the first time in a dramatic deciding set.
Dobey, for his part, fought his way back into the match and equalized in the ninth set to make it 2:2 in the legs. In the deciding set - as is usual at the World Championship - he needed a two-leg lead. Rob Cross secured this with his first opportunity on double 8 in the eighth leg of the final set.
"Of course you always try to believe you can win. But realistically, you only look from set to set in a situation like this," said Cross at the press conference after the historic match, admitting that he had felt the necessary looseness for the comeback after being hopelessly behind.
Next furious victory for Luke Littler
In tomorrow night's semi-final, Rob Cross will face the greatest talent in darts history. Luke Littler is waiting for "Voltage". The 16-year-old defeated Northern Ireland's Brendan Dolan immediately after the historic Cross match. Littler did not need a comeback, his performance in the 5:1 win against the disappointing surprise quarter-finalists from Northern Ireland was too dominant.
Cross's press conference was still running as the game was about to begin. When asked about a potential semi-final against Littler, the world number eight replied that the 16-year-old would not have an easy time against the experienced Dolan. "Luke probably won't pull away straight away," predicted Cross, before turning to the TV. "I should have looked at the score beforehand," the Englishman grumbled afterwards. At this point, Littler had already won the first two sets.
Brendan Dolan had started the match well, but completely lost the thread after just five minutes. Littler dominated with his scoring, Dolan was unable to build on his sensational victories over former world champions Gerwyn Price and Gary Anderson.
In the third set, the Northern Irishman missed a dart to win the set and looked helpless and frustrated. Littler took a 3:0 lead and a few minutes later a 4:0 set lead. Since January 1, 2024, that has been a treacherous intermediate score, as Luke Littler will also have known. Dolan actually snatched the fifth set, but that was as good as it got for the "history maker" from Northern Ireland. Littler shifted back into top gear and ruined Dolan's comeback hopes.
Littler "dreaming now"
"Wow, I'm in the semi-finals on my debut. I'm happy to have made it. I deserved it with my performance. Now I'm dreaming. I'm still two games away. I'm definitely thinking about winning the title," said Littler after his fifth convincing success in a row on the World Championship stage.
"I'm really sorry for Chris Dobey. We have the same management and we can't play against each other now, but I'll try to win it for ZXF (Littler and Dobey's management; editor's note)."
Once again, Littler behaved impressively professionally considering his young age, answering the questions of the two dozen or so media representatives confidently and politely. When asked whether he was the best player in the world, Littler commented with a smile: "I'm currently one of the best, but not the best in the world."
Littler was particularly pleased that there will be no more afternoon matches after today. Littler can sleep in before the semi-final against Cross. "I didn't like waking up at 9am today. Tomorrow I can relax before I come back in the evening."
Then comeback king Rob Cross awaits the teenage sensation of the 2024 World Darts Championship.
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The following year at the World Darts Championship, the World Championships title match will be a clash between the historic comeback king Rob Cross and the rising star Luke Littler. In the previous year, Cross made headlines by coming back from 4-0 down to win, marking the greatest comeback in World Darts Championship history.
After his impressive victory over Brendan Dolan in the quarter-finals, Littler's dedication and skill have earned him a place in the semi-finals, where he will challenge Cross for the World Championships title.
Source: www.ntv.de
