Littler, 16, makes history as he reaches world darts final

Sixteen-year-old darts sensation Luke Littler advanced to the final of the PDC World Championship by beating Rob Cross 6-2 at Alexandra Palace on Tuesday.

Littler, who threw 16 180s in the match, looked out of sorts after losing the first set before finding his rhythm and scoring at a pace that Cross struggled to keep up with.

“It's crazy to think I'm in the final of a World Championship on my debut. I was happy to win a match, now I could almost go all the way,” Littler told Sky Sports.

Cross, 33, is the second former world champion Littler has knocked out of the tournament after beating Raymond van Barneveld 4-1 in the round of 16.

Littler became the favorite to win the tournament after beating Brendan Dolan 5-1 in the quarter-finals on the same night that three-time winner Michael van Gerwen was eliminated.

The Warrington teenager is the PDC youth world champion, but his composure under the spotlight at his first world championship tournament repeatedly stunned the crowd at Alexandra Palace.

When asked if he would change his pre-match preparations ahead of the final, Littler replied: “In the morning I'll always go and eat my ham and cheese omelette, then I come here, I have my pizza and I'll go to the training board. That's what I do.” I did it for every game.”

Littler, who won £200,000 in prize money during the tournament, emerged from relative obscurity to become arguably the new face of the sport and received autograph requests from Arsenal footballers Declan Rice and Aaron Ramsdale.

“When I came here my ambition was just to win my first round match, that was it,” Littler said.

“I heard rumors that Christian [Kist, his first-round opponent] I was dealing with an injury, but I just blocked it and averaged 106 in that match.

“After that, my goal was to [beat Andrew Gilding in the second round], spend Christmas with family then return to London. Now here I am in the final.”

Littler will face the winner of the semi-final between Luke Humphries and Scott Williams in Wednesday's final.