Littler beaten by Clayton in World Masters shock

Luke Littler suffered a shock 4-2 defeat in the quarter-finals of the World Masters as he was knocked out by Jonny Clayton in Milton Keynes.

Littler, who became the youngest world darts champion aged 17 last month, had lost just one leg in his two previous matches in the tournament, but had no answer to a brilliant display from Clayton.

The Wales number one – World Masters champion in 2021 – was a big underdog against Littler, but his heavy scoring and high-quality finishing saw him run out a worthy winner.

Clayton will now face Dimitri van den Bergh in Sunday evening’s semi-finals after the Belgian enjoyed a dominant 4-1 win over Nathan Aspinall.

Defending champion Stephen Bunting was another casualty in the quarter-finals as he was knocked out by Danny Noppert in a 4-3 thriller that went to the final leg.

But world number one Luke Humphries made no mistake in making the last four and he will face Noppert after a 4-1 victory over Australian Damon Heta.

Littler had been imperious in Milton Keynes but Clayton had also impressed and broke the tournament record with his 112.77 average in the first round.

Clayton still averaged over a ton in the quarters, even though his 103.96 and eight 180s was bettered by Littler’s 108.5 and nine maximums – but the Welshman was superior on the doubles.

‘The Ferret’ had a 60% checkout percentage to Littler’s 35% – and had three ton-plus finishes including a 128 and 138 when taking the opening set.

Littler, who turned 18 in January, went off the boil as Clayton took the next two sets to lead 3-1, and even though the world champion got back to 3-2 Clayton kept his nerve to book his spot in the semis.

“The stage likes me,” Clayton told ITV4. “Obviously Luke didn’t play his A game, but it’s a battle and I got over the line.

“He’s a cracking guy and great darts player, with a great future. He’s given me a big lesson the last two games I played him, so I got one back.

“It went my way and it was my day.”

Bunting won the opening set against Dutchman Noppert but missed 11 doubles in a row as he fell 3-1 behind in sets.

The defending champion fought back to force a deciding set, and eventually a deciding leg, but double trouble struck again as he missed three darts for the match to allow his opponent to nail double eight and clinch victory.

“He had me under pressure from the off,” Bunting told ITV4 after the match. “Whether I’m ahead or 10 nil down I always believe I’ve got the game to win, but Danny was unbelievable there and kept his head at the end.”

Humphries had few problems with Heta as he averaged just over 104 and hit six 180s to power into a last four meeting with Saturday’s nine-dart hero van den Bergh.

“I slowed down my throw just a little tiny bit and that seemed to work for me, so tonight when I come back I’m going to keep it there,” said Humphries.

Quarter-final results

Luke Humphries 4-1 Damon Heta

Danny Noppert 4-3 Stephen Bunting

Luke Littler 2-4 Jonny Clayton

Dimitri van den Bergh 4-1 Nathan Aspinall

Semi-finals

Luke Humphries v Danny Noppert

Jonny Clayton v Dimitri van den Bergh

There will be live text commentary on the semi-finals and final from 19:00 GMT on the BBC Sport website and app.