{"id":9733,"date":"2026-02-22T07:55:30","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T00:55:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/?p=9733"},"modified":"2026-02-22T07:55:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T00:55:31","slug":"sensational-littler-produces-the-fireworks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/sensational-littler-produces-the-fireworks\/","title":{"rendered":"Sensational Littler produces the fireworks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Luke Littler produced a breathtaking display to open his bid for Poland Darts Open glory on Saturday, as Luke Humphries defied a late Krzysztof Ratajski fightback to end home hopes in Krak\u00f3w.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second day action at the inaugural Poland Darts Open saw the seeded stars enter the fray at the EXPO, as Littler delivered a darting masterclass in dispatching Mike De Decker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The world number one averaged 113.84 and pinned all six of his attempts at double to run out a 6-1 winner against the former World Grand Prix champion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I definitely needed to put on a performance tonight,&#8221;\u00a0admitted Littler, who won the last four legs of the contest in just 47 darts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not gone my way in the first three weeks of the Premier League, but I certainly want to be the first winner here in Poland this weekend.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Humphries, meanwhile, fired in a 15-dart break to triumph in a deciding-leg thriller against home hero Ratajski, who fought back from 5-2 adrift to threaten a sensational fightback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>European Champion Gian van Veen also advanced via a last-leg shoot-out, denying Andrew Gilding to set up a fascinating showdown against Nathan Aspinall on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aspinall, who claimed top spot on the European Tour rankings last year, began his 2026 campaign with an impressive 6-3 win against Darryl Pilgrim, who averaged 101 in a losing cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jonny Clayton and Michael Smith will also go head-to-head on Finals Day, after overcoming Adam Gawlas and Joe Cullen respectively on Saturday evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Clayton put in a clinical display on the outer ring to sink a spirited Gawlas 6-4, before Smith crashed in seven 180s to edge out Cullen, sealing his progress with an 11-dart break in the decider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, Gary Anderson and James Wade were amongst the high-profile casualties on a bumper day of round two action, as five seeds crashed out in Poland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wessel Nijman recorded a fourth consecutive victory over Anderson to secure his place in the last 16, averaging 103.46 to complete a 6-2 success against the two-time World Champion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know how I keep beating him,&#8221;\u00a0admitted Nijman, who faces Anderson&#8217;s compatriot Cameron Menzies in the last 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Against Gary, I think it&#8217;s just a good rhythm. I&#8217;m very happy with the way I played today, and I hope I can bring the same game as I did today into tomorrow.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Menzies was similarly impressive on Day Two, whitewashing a below-par Wade to defeat the left-hander for the fifth time in six meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chris Dobey also progressed with a whitewash win over Connor Scutt, converting 67% of his attempts at double to create a last 16 tussle against Luke Woodhouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Woodhouse overturned a 4-1 deficit to account for Callan Rydz, reeling off five straight legs to triumph with a 102 average, and completing the comeback with a clinical 118 kill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cristo Reyes will feature at Finals Day in a European Tour event for the first time since 2018, averaging north of 99 in a 6-2 victory against World Championship semi-finalist Ryan Searle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Spaniard&#8217;s reward is a showdown against Premier League star Josh Rock, who opened his title challenge with a comprehensive 6-1 win over William O&#8217;Connor \u2013 aided by a 103 average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ross Smith also landed a ton-plus average in his 6-1 demolition of Daryl Gurney, and the former European Champion will now take on Littler to kick off Finals Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stephen Bunting and Jermaine Wattimena will renew their rivalry on the European Tour stage, after coming through gruelling contests against Niels Zonneveld and Danny Noppert respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bunting defied six 180s from Zonneveld to wrap up a hard-fought 6-4 win, while Wattimena survived multiple match darts to deny Noppert in an all-Dutch affair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Croatia&#8217;s Boris Krcmar completes the last 16 line-up, and his reward for dumping out German number one Martin Schindler will be a round three tussle against Humphries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The year&#8217;s opening European Tour event concludes on Sunday, with the afternoon session&#8217;s round three followed in the evening session by the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>RESULTS<\/strong><br><strong>Round Two<br><\/strong>Boris Krcmar 6-4 Martin Schindler<br>Chris Dobey 6-0 Connor Scutt<br>Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Darryl Pilgrim<br>Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 Danny Noppert<br>Wessel Nijman 6-2 Gary Anderson<br>Cameron Menzies 6-0 James Wade<br>Ross Smith 6-1 Daryl Gurney<br>Cristo Reyes 6-2 Ryan Searle<strong><br><\/strong>Josh Rock 6-1 William O&#8217;Connor<br>Jonny Clayton 6-4 Adam Gawlas<br>Michael Smith 6-5 Joe Cullen<br>Luke Littler 6-1 Mike De Decker<br>Luke Woodhouse 6-4 Callan Rydz<br>Luke Humphries 6-5 Krzysztof Ratajski<br>Stephen Bunting 6-4 Niels Zonneveld<br>Gian van Veen 6-5 Andrew Gilding<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Luke Littler produced a breathtaking display to open his bid for Poland Darts Open glory on Saturday, as<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5744,"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":[7],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-9733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-darts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Luje-Littler1_compressed.jpg",2400,1600,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Luje-Littler1_compressed-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Luje-Littler1_compressed-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Luje-Littler1_compressed-768x512.jpg",640,427,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Luje-Littler1_compressed-1024x683.jpg",640,427,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Luje-Littler1_compressed-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Luje-Littler1_compressed-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true],"morenews-large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Luje-Littler1_compressed-825x575.jpg",825,575,true],"morenews-medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Luje-Littler1_compressed-590x410.jpg",590,410,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"<a 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