Luke Littler maintained his bid for back-to-back Grand Slam of Darts titles to set up a semi-final showdown with Danny Noppert, following a high-quality night of action in Wolverhampton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following wins for Luke Humphries and Gerwyn Price in Friday’s quarter-finals, Littler and Noppert completed the semi-final line-up with victories over Josh Rock and Lukas Wenig respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Littler was forced to recover from 9-6 adrift to preserve his defence of the Eric Bristow Trophy, averaging north of 105 to topple Rock in a compelling quarter-final clash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rock fired in a trio of 12-darters to put Littler under the microscope early on, before averaging 110 in a brutal mini-session to establish daylight at 9-6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Littler responded in typically defiant fashion, winning seven straight legs to seize control of the contest, in a remarkable spell which featured 74, 71, 90, 96 and 81 combination finishes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rock hit back with a brilliant 11-dart break to reduce the arrears to 13-11, before the pair traded 12-darters on the bull as the relentless quality continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nevertheless, Littler halted the Northern Irishman’s resistance with an 11-dart break to move to the cusp of victory at 15-12, which he duly sealed via a trademark finish on double ten moments later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I slowed my throw down and that really helped with the timing of my shots,”\u00a0revealed Littler, who is unbeaten in 12 games on the Grand Slam of Darts stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I was giving myself absolute hell at 9-6 down, but then I came back on and won the next five and went into the lead, and I couldn’t ask for anything better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Me and Josh always bring the best out of each other. It’s another game and another win and I’m still unbeaten here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I know I need to win one more game to become the world number one, but I need to get past Danny tomorrow afternoon, which will be a difficult game.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Noppert will take on Littler for a place in tonight’s showpiece after running out a comprehensive 16-8 winner against surprise package Wenig.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The emerging German drew first blood with an eye-catching 130 finish on the bull, although it was Noppert’s combination finishing that proved decisive in the early exchanges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Dutchman landed a hat-trick of 76 checkouts in the opening session, before registering successive 116 and 140 outshots to create a 6-4 cushion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Noppert then rattled off a five-leg sequence to stretch his lead to 11-4, only for Wenig to stop the rot with a magnificent 170 checkout in leg 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The former UK Open champion responded with another four-leg burst to move to the brink of victory, before defying 104 and 129 checkouts from Wenig to confirm his progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’m really happy. I’m in the semi-final of the Grand Slam,”\u00a0reflected Noppert, who has now featured in five televised semi-finals in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I was dreaming about it all the time and now I did it. This was not my best game of course, but I’m really proud to be in the semi-finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I think I’m in the best form of my life and I always believe in myself, so I’m really pleased with everything.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Grand Slam of Darts will conclude with a bumper double session later today, as former champions Humphries and Price go head-to-head in the afternoon’s opening semi-final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Quarter-Finals Results: <\/strong>Danny Noppert 16-8 Lukas Wenig; Luke Littler 16-12 Josh Rock<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Luke Littler maintained his bid for back-to-back Grand Slam of Darts titles to set up a semi-final showdown<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4306,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-6099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","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