World number one Luke Littler recovered from a slow start to beat Ricardo Pietreczko 10-6 and book his spot in the last eight of the Players Championship Finals in Minehead.
Littler – who overtook rival Luke Humphries at the top of the rankings on the way to victory in last week’s Grand Slam of Darts – had seen off Ross Smith 6-3 during the afternoon session with another impressive match average of 102.
The 18-year-old continued to build his momentum against Germany’s Pietreczko – who had earlier edged out Gary Anderson in a last-leg decider – as he came from 3-1 behind to take control at 8-5 ahead with a brilliant 121 finish after hitting two bullseyes.
Having dug in to make the last eight, world champion Littler, who again returned a 102 average despite a slow start, has his sights firmly on yet another title – and one which he has yet to win.
“Obviously I am never happy when I am losing, at 3-2 down I then got it back to 5-all and I just had to kick on there,” Littler said on ITV4.
“I knew there were no more breaks, we were on (stage) until the end and I managed to get the job done. I was not the best on my doubles tonight, but I can sharpen up on them again tomorrow afternoon.”
Littler added: “This is one (title) I have not won, everyone does know that. I am definitely chasing for it tomorrow.”
Gerwyn Price – the top seed because of his performances during the 34 Players Championship floor events across the the year – beat Martin Schindler 10-6 to also progress through to Sunday, when the tournament will be played through to a conclusion.
Nathan Aspinall held off Dutchman Danny Noppert 10-8, with both players hitting six 180s.
Away from Butlin’s main stage, Daryl Gurney – who beat Stephen Bunting during the afternoon – got past Adam Lipscombe in a last-leg decider which sees him through to a quarter-final against Price.
James Wade followed up his earlier win over former world champion Peter Wright with a 10-6 victory over Andrew Gilding.
Dutchman Jermaine Wattimena battled past Ryan Searle 10-8 to secure his place in the quarter-finals of the tournament for the first time.
In Saturday’s late matches, Chris Dobey beat James Hurrell 10-5 to set up a quarter-final against Littler, while Northern Ireland’s Josh Rock eventually closed out a 10-8 win over Krzysztof Ratajski, who had trailed 8-2.
