Luke Littler will be really challenged for the first time at this Darts World Cup. The world champion not only has a strong opponent, but also the audience against him. After the win, Littler thanked the fans in a very special way.
The fans at Alexandra Palace tried everything to provoke a close game. They kept chanting the name of the underdog in the duel with Luke Littler. “Robbie, Robbie Cross,” echoed through the Ally Pally. There were whistles for Littler’s walk-on. In the end nothing helped. Littler’s run continues with a 4-2 win and he is in the World Cup quarter-finals. Until then, he was really challenged by the audience and opponents for the first time at this World Darts Championship.
At first it was the fans who listened to the world champion. In the first set of this round of 16, Littler led the audience in chants for his opponent. When he won, he pointedly grabbed his ears and posted in the direction of the audience. “What else do you have to offer?” was the message.
Cross tried to use Littler’s dispute to his advantage. In the second set he imitated Littler’s ear gesture after winning a leg, then after another good shot he spread his arms on the way to the board. Cross, who lifted the World Cup trophy in 2018, emphasized his positive moments. He was still assured of support.
Only Searle still without losing a set
And then something extraordinary actually happened: Littler, who seemed to float so far above all other professionals and had not lost a set in the first three games of this tournament, became human. He missed four of five double court attempts in the second set. The 18-year-old world number one actually lost his first set. Only Ryan Searle, who had previously beaten James Hurrell 4-0 in the round of 16, is still clean. “Heavy Metal” has won 42:11 in his four World Cup games and hasn’t dropped a single set.
After the setback, what happened so often happened. Littler seemingly effortlessly took his game to the next level. He played impressively in the third set: 125.25 points on average, and he didn’t need more than 13 darts for any of the three legs he won in a row.
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The game continued as usual for a short time. Littler also won the fourth set – and acknowledged the success with a loud scream. But Cross still had something to counter him. He checked 126 points on the bullseye to connect, Littler was ready at 124 to win the match.
And suddenly Cross was there again. In the sixth set he averaged over 110 points. “He is currently playing better than Luke Littler,” analyzed the experts on English TV on Sky Sports. Cross got a dart to equalize the set, but missed on double 2. Littler broke and was simply too good. He decided the decider of this set to win. After that, it broke out on Littler. He quickly walked to the right side of the stage, waving his arms wildly at the fans who had apparently been annoying him the entire game.
He then appeared on stage during the interview with a very red face. There he then verbally argued with the fans. “I’m not intimidated,” Littler said, laughing. And then: “Can I say something? You pay for the tickets. You pay my prize money. So thank you. Thank you for my money. Thank you for booing me.” The fans booed him at the end of the interview, in which he said that “nobody wanted me to win.”
Next, Luke Woodhouse and Krzysztof Ratajski will try to stop Littler. The fact that both will meet in the round of 16 on Tuesday is a big surprise. The Welshman Gerwyn Price was actually expected to play in this game, but he lost in the second round to the Dutchman Wesley Plaisier.
Darts World Cup 2026, results 3rd round
Justin Hood (ENG) – Ryan Meikle (ENG) 4:1
Ricky Evans (ENG) – Charlie Manby (ENG) 2:4
Nathan Aspinall (ENG/15) – NITY (NED) 3:4
from 8:15 p.m., 3rd round and round of 16:
Josh Rock (NIR/11) – Callan Rydz (ENG) (3rd Round) 4:1
James Hurrell (ENG) – Ryan Searle (ENG/20) (round of 16) 0:4
Luke Littler (ENG) – Rob Cross (ENG) (round of 16) 4:2
Luca Wiecek is sports editor for WELT. He will be reporting from Alexandra Palace in London until New Year’s Eve.
