Luke Littler emerged through a testing contest against Danny Noppert to reach round two at the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Day Two of the \u00a3450,000 event resumed at the AFAS Live with eight more round one clashes, as Littler fought past Dutch star Noppert 6-4 despite a profligate outer-ring performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 2024 champion initially trailed 3-1 to the former UK Open champion, but rallied to take a 4-3 lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite Noppert staying alive with a fourth leg of his own, Littler showed incredible gumption to take out 95 with a tops-tops finish, before closing out the contest with a 12-darter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cComing back from a losing position to win is always a great feeling,\u201d said Littler, who averaged over 98 despite a 30% success rate in the outer-ring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m not putting pressure on myself. I am just focusing on round by round.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Littler\u2019s bid for the Premier event clean sweep will continue against Nathan Aspinall in round two – a rematch of their scintillating World Matchplay contest – after Aspinall also advanced with a 6-4 win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNathan always throws everything at me. He produces his best, I perform at my best, and hopefully it\u2019s another great game tomorrow,\u201d continued the World Champion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt would be one of the best darts achievements if I could pull it off [the clean sweep], but it\u2019s still a very long way away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Former World Matchplay champion Aspinall won four legs on the trot to triumph against Raymond Smith, reaching round two for the first time since finishing runner-up in Amsterdam in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gerwyn Price powered to a 6-4 win over Australian Darts Masters runner-up Brody Klinge, missing just one dart at double in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Welsh number one led 5-0 at one stage before fending off a four-leg fightback from Klinge which included two ton-plus checkouts, before sealing the match with a 14-dart hold of throw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI started off well and then dropped off and let Brody back into the game,\u201d assessed Price, who will face Canada\u2019s Jim Long in round two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe took out of a couple of big checkouts which hurt a little bit, so then it was about trying to fall across the winning line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going into the back end of the season now and I believe there are some majors that I can win, and some that I\u2019m targeting as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Long secured his round two place by coming back from 4-0 down, surviving a match dart against Adam Leek to pip the Australian in a last-leg decider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2018 champion James Wade survived a match dart against Damon Heta to edge past the Australian number one in a last-leg decider, defying five maximums from his opponent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wessel Nijman awaits Wade, after the Dutchman delighted the home crowd with a 6-4 victory over Australian icon Simon Whitlock thanks to a stellar 98 average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t think it was as good as that, but my scoring got me over the line in the end,\u201d confessed Nijman, an eight-time ranking title winner in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAll the titles I\u2019ve won this year makes everything feel different. It gives you more confidence and I definitely feel more confident coming into this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jonny Clayton will face Motomu Sakai in round two, as the 2021 champion saw off Maik Kuivenhoven 6-3 in a scrappy affair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sakai, featuring as the first Japanese player at the World Series Finals, defeated Callan Rydz in a last-leg shootout after almost letting a 4-1 lead slip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
RESULTS Luke Littler emerged through a testing contest against Danny Noppert to reach round two at the World Series<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-15868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-darts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
Round One
<\/strong>Jim Long 6-5 Adam Leek
Motomu Sakai 6-5 Callan Rydz
Wessel Nijman 6-4 Simon Whitlock
Nathan Aspinall 6-4 Raymond Smith
James Wade 6-5 Damon Heta
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Brody Klinge
Luke Littler 6-4 Danny Noppert
Jonny Clayton 6-3 Maik Kuivenhoven<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"