26 January 2024 , 21:16
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Luke Littler continued his unstoppable rise in the world of darts by seeing off Dirk van Duijvenbode in the opening round of the Dutch Masters on Friday night.
Playing for the first time since turning 17 on Sunday, Littler experienced something he wasn't used to in Den Bosch: not being the crowd's favourite. Van Duijvenbode was raucously cheered onto the stage by the Dutch fans, while Littler was booed. It didn't phase him, as he simply got down to business at the oche.
Littler registered 180 on his first visit and never looked back, showing the maturity which has seen him start 2024 by reaching the final of the PDC World Championship before winning his first PDC senior title at Bahrain Masters last week.
He was given a stare by Van Duijvenbode following a poor visit, but brushed it aside with a gulp of his drink. In truth he never looked anything but comfortable, easing through 6-2 with little fuss, finishing the match with a 150 check-out.
Littler nailed four 180s to his opponent's none and averaged 90 over three darts. He is now into the quarter-finals.
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Some of Britain's biggest names were knocked out in the opening round on Friday, with Raymond van Barneveld seeing off Rob Cross 6-5 and Michael Smith losing 6-3 to Gian van Veen.
Nathan Aspinall was knocked out in a 6-2 loss to Danny Noppert and Peter Wright went down by the same scoreline to Kevin Doets, but Gerwyn Price overcame Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-3 to progress.
Luke Littler won the Bahrain Masters last week (@OfficialPDC/Twitter)Littler has won over darts fans by storming to the final at Ally Pally at the start of the year where he was beaten by world No1 Luke Humphries. He then responded by winning the Bahrain Masters by beating Michael van Gerwen 8-5 in the final.
Humphries has warned him that he won't always have it his own way. "He's not faced everyone, he's only faced six players so far," he said. "You've got Michael van Gerwen, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Nathan Aspinall and Peter Wright. All these players are tough competitors but if he keeps getting better then he could dominate the sport for sure but it's up to me to get even better and not allow that to happen.
"I think we're in the greatest era of darts because it's not dominated by one person anymore. It's a very, very open sport and I think a lot of players believe they can win and I'm talking right down to the top 64 and that's what makes it so open."