Monday evening at Alexandra Palace delivered the goods. Luke Littler continued his relentless march towards retaining his world title with a commanding victory over Rob Cross, while Ryan Searle produced the performance of his career to reach a maiden quarter-final.
Littler Too Strong for Cross
When Luke Littler and Rob Cross were drawn to meet in round four, the darts world circled the date. A clash of world champions. The young pretender against the 2018 king. In the end, there was only one winner.
Littler was sensational, peppering the treble 20 bed with an astonishing 17 maximums throughout the contest. The 18-year-old defending champion has been in imperious form all tournament, and Cross simply had no answer to the onslaught.
To his credit, Cross made a fight of it. The Hastings thrower, who has spoken openly about mental health struggles affecting his form this year, won two sets and showed glimpses of the player who lifted the Sid Waddell Trophy seven years ago. But when Littler turns it on, there’s precious little anyone can do.
“Champions find a way,” observed Wayne Mardle on commentary. “But when they play each other, this is the stuff that can happen.”
Cross had approached the match with refreshing honesty beforehand. “I can have no worries. He’s fantastic,” he said. “There’s no pressure on me. If Rob Cross loses to Luke Littler, who cares?”
The pressure, it seems, is entirely on everyone else. Littler has now won all six meetings with Cross this year, including five in the Premier League and a 6-2 demolition in last year’s World Championship semi-final. The 18-year-old remains on course to become only the fourth player to retain the PDC world title, joining Phil Taylor, Gary Anderson, and Adrian Lewis in elite company.
Searle Surges Into Quarter-Finals
Ryan Searle has been one of the most impressive performers at this year’s championship, and Monday night was no different. The Somerset ace crushed debutant James Hurrell 4-0 to reach his first ever World Championship quarter-final.
‘Heavy Metal’ hasn’t dropped a set all tournament, and he was in no mood to start against Hurrell. After edging a tight opening set 3-2, Searle found another gear entirely, reeling off nine of the next eleven legs to complete a clinical victory.
Hurrell’s fairytale run ends in the last 16, but the 41-year-old can hold his head high. Victories over Stowe Buntz, Dirk van Duijvenbode, and Stephen Bunting—the latter a seven-set thriller against the world number four—marked a breakthrough tournament for the Somerset player.
“I wasn’t nervous. I knew where my game was coming from,” Hurrell reflected after his third-round heroics. “I felt relaxed. I’m just so confident in my game.”
That confidence ran into a brick wall named Searle. The 20th seed had spoken before the match about its significance. “I think for both of us it’s the biggest game in our careers so far,” he said. He made sure it was a night to remember for all the right reasons.
Rock Rolls Past Rydz
The evening session opened with Josh Rock seeing off Callan Rydz 4-1 in a round three encounter that threatened to produce something special.
Both players flirted with perfection, threatening nine-darters in successive legs as the tungsten flew at a frightening pace. “Ridiculous darts!” bellowed the commentary team as Rock and Rydz each reached seven darts into the perfect leg during back-to-back efforts against the throw.
It was Rock who kept his composure when it mattered. After dropping the opening set, the Northern Irishman rattled off four straight to book a round four date with Justin Hood—another debutant enjoying the tournament of his life.
For Rydz, it’s a disappointing end to a tournament that began with such promise. The emotional scenes following his second-round victory over Daryl Gurney, where he spoke movingly about his ill grandfather, had captured hearts across Ally Pally. But Rock was simply too good on the night.
What’s Next
The quarter-finals are now taking shape. Littler awaits the winner of Luke Woodhouse and Krzysztof Ratajski, while Searle will face either Peter Wright or Stephen Bunting’s conqueror from the other side of the draw.
Tuesday’s action sees Michael van Gerwen take on Gary Anderson in a mouth-watering round four clash, while Luke Humphries continues his title defence against Kevin Doets—the man who dumped out Nathan Aspinall in Monday’s afternoon session.
The business end of the tournament is here. Buckle up.