Luke Littler has explained why he broke down in tears and was consoled by parents after beating Ryan Meikle at the World Darts Championship.
The 17-year-old darts superstar, who burst onto the scene last year with a runner-up finish to Luke Humphries, made a winning start at Ally Pally on Saturday night but was left incredibly emotional after his win over Meikle.
Littler, the pre-tournament favourite, was in danger of a shock early exit before dominating the closing stages of his opening match in front of a packed audience to win 3-1.
‘The Nuke’ almost conjured up a nine-darter in the fourth set – won in just 32 darts – with a record-breaking 140.91 average.
After the match, Littler broke down in tears during his televised interview and was unable to conduct the live chat on Sky Sports.
‘It’s the worst game I’ve played,’ Littler later said. ‘I’ve never felt anything like that tonight.
‘It was a weird feeling. It’s the biggest stage out there, the last tournament of the calendar year, and I had to somehow get over the line and I’m happy I did.
‘I shouldn’t have won that first set but I did and then you have to switch on from there.
‘That last set, I don’t know where I pulled it from. I drank my water, said to Abi (Davies, his interviewer on stage) I was OK, then as soon as the question came, boom, tears.
‘I was like, ‘What are you doing?’ – it was just a bit too much to try to speak on stage after that.
‘Leading up to it, I was fine, the train journey down, practice was going well, even practising on the stage was unbelievable.
‘It was as soon as I heard ‘game on’, my bottom went again. I’m thinking, ‘What are you doing? Just relax.’ That last set, I found it.’
Littler will face either European Championship winner Ritchie Edhouse or Ian White in the next round.
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