Luke Littler began his defence of the PDC World Championship with a 3-0 win over Darius Labanauskas at the Alexandra Palace on Wednesday evening
Luke Littler may have had a comfortable start to his World Darts Championship defence, but his post-match interview was anything but. The world number one had to duck and dodge out of the way of an infamous Ally Pally wasp, which interrupted his celebrations after a hard-fought victory over Darius Labanauskas in the opening round.
The reigning world champion made his first appearance on the Ally Pally stage since his triumph over Michael van Gerwen in last January’s final. The newly-crowned world No.1 had to dig deep to stave off a major upset against Labanauskas.
Despite clinching a 3-0 win, Littler only managed four more legs than his adversary and averaged 101.54. Littler faced off against the 49-year-old Lithuanian, a Palace legend who reached the quarter-final in 2020 and nailed a nine-dart finish the following year against Mike De Decker.
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It was as tough a first-round draw as the young gun could have landed, and his relief was clear when he edged out Labanauskas to win the opening set. Labanauskas twice took the lead in the first set, holding his throw and forcing Littler to level twice before checking out 76 to win the fifth leg against the throw, averaging 103.59.
‘The Nuke’ celebrated with a jig that echoed Danny Welbeck’s goal celebration for Manchester United at the Santiago Bernabeu. He grinned and chuckled with the crowd, joining in as they belted out the darts anthem ‘Chase the Sun’.
Littler’s discomfort was evident in the second set as he battled to overcome the world No. 95. Despite hitting four 180s and averaging 101.21, ‘The Nuke’ was pushed to a fifth-leg leg decider in the second set, eventually taking a 2-0 lead.
‘The Nuke’ bounced back from an opening leg loss in the set with his first ton-plus checkout of the match, nailing the bull on 124. Littler then dealt another blow to Labanauskas with a ton-plus finish for a 120 out.
He returned to checkout on D6, securing the win and a spot in the second round. However, not everyone was impressed by Littler’s performance. The notorious Ally Pally wasp made its first appearance of the year, forcing the world champion to duck and dodge during his post-match interview.
When the interview did finally get underway, Littler expressed his delight at having ten days off before returning for the second round of the competition.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Littler said: “It wasn’t easy and looking at the stats there, it didn’t feel like that. I’m happy with the win.
“There was a bit of nerves but when you come up here and win a leg, two legs, then you win the set, it proper settles you down. That first set was crucial against the darts.
“Then coming back on stage with the darts, another 3-2 set but as long as you win the sets, that’s all that matters. I think everyone in the tournament wants to get out of the first round.
“It’s definitely the hardest game, it doesn’t matter who you play. If you don’t play well, you’re not going to win, but I’m very happy with that. First game done and now I get ten days off.”
Littler has also been nominated for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, and was asked whether he thought he had it in the bag, but gave a humble response. He said: “Nah I don’t think so. If I had to pick my winner, it would definitely be Lando [Norris].”
