Luke Littler does not believe Luke Humphries has the best mentality in darts, instead opting for a surprise pick. It came after the teenager came from 7-2 down against Jermaine Wattimena to win 13-11 to advance to the World Matchplay quarter-finals.
As he battles to win the final Triple Crown event that eludes him, Littler triumphantly reminded fans that his comeback proves he is “the world champion for a reason”. However, he argued that neither he nor world No. 1 Humphries has the best mentality in the sport. Instead, he awarded that title to Nathan Aspinall, who Littler believes consistently comes back from losing margins.
Asked if he had the ‘best mentality’ in darts, Littler said: “I probably wouldn’t say so. I think one of the best players with the best mentality is probably Nathan Aspinall. If he’s five, six-nil down, he’s going to find a way to come back. I was three or four legs down tonight each time and I found a way out of it.”
The 18-year-old is now three wins away from completing each of the Triple Crown events – the World Championship, the Premier League, and World Matchplay. Against Wattimena, he won six legs in a row before breaking his opponent at a crucial moment. He celebrated his tiebreak success by pointing to the star on his shirt, present since his World Championship win in January.
“I’m a world champion for a reason, I find these gears when I need it,” a jubilant Littler boasted to Sky Sports afterwards. “I’ve not felt pressure like that since the World Championships. I was a bit nervous but the crowd was unbelievable and it’s on to my third game here and I’ve won two of them.
“I want to get back on stage and right now I can’t wait to be in the quarter-final. If I didn’t go 7-3, it would have been a lot harder. But yeah, to go 7-3 I just said to myself, ‘You have got to win at least the next two or three legs when you come back on’.
“It was just saying to myself, saying to the fans, I am world champion for a reason, we come back. And for myself, I always find these gears somewhere. Obviously for myself I’d rather be blasted off into the lead like I did against Ryan Searle, but it wasn’t to be and I pulled it out of the bag.
“Probably since the Ryan Joyce game, I have not let that much emotion out of me since then. But it’s just good for myself to show the emotion and show that I can always find a way to come back.”
