Luke Littler and Michael van Gerwen progress in PDC World Championships
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Luke Littler struggled to hit top form but still did enough to ease into the last 16 of the world championship with a 4-1 win over Ian White at Alexandra Palace. The 17-year-old survived a series of errant doubles and had set darts against him in the first and fourth sets before finding his range when it mattered to sink his veteran opponent.
![[Michael van Gerwen reacts after defeating Brendan Dolan.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/c6246c8ecf129b0c69b92aa86a4eb9a500fd08d6/0_232_4931_2958/master/4931.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Littler, who averaged just under 98 for the match, told Sky Sports: “It was tough, Ian threw everything at me and I had to stay switched on. It was just a case of settling into it. I know what’s gone wrong tonight – the doubles – but most importantly, I’ve won.”.
The No 4 seed almost suffered an early shock when White missed a dart for the first set, before more uncharacteristically loose doubles let the 54-year-old level the match at 1-1. Littler looked to have stirred when he rounded off a much more impressive third set with a finish on the bull. But he handed White another set dart in the fourth, before crucially snatching the set and moving on to complete his victory.
Littler will face Ryan Joyce in the last 16 after he edged a nailbiting 4-3 win over Ryan Searle in the final match of the afternoon session. At 3-2 down in the deciding set, Searle missed a single 20 to set up a dart at tops that would have tied the set at 3-3, and Joyce duly finished the job to earn his place in the fourth round for the first time since 2019.
The three-time champion Michael van Gerwen said he has plenty more to give after chiselling out a 4-2 win over last year’s quarter-finalist Brendan Dolan. Van Gerwen, who is chasing his first world title since 2019, charged through eight consecutive legs to seize control of the match at 3-1 but somewhat fell over the line after dropping a scrappy fifth set to the dogged Northern Irishman.
