Ryan Joyce believes he can derail Luke Littler’s bid for World Darts Championship glory and has warned the teenager he will need to keep up his game to beat him at Alexandra Palace on Monday.
Littler followed up his 3-1 win over Ryan Meikle in his tournament opener by defeating Ian White in the third round on Saturday night, where the fourth survived set arrows in three of the first four sets before closing out a 4-1 victory.
The 17-year-old averaged 97.84 but struggled in the outside ring, missing 24 of 37 double attempts en route to the last 16, with Littler admitting after his victory that he needed to improve his finishing in later rounds. .
Luke Littler will face Ryan Joyce in the last 16 on Monday, with the winner taking on Ricardo Pietrecko or Nathan Aspinall in the quarter-finals.
Joyce set up a fourth-round meeting with Littler after beating Ryan Searle in a final-round decider earlier in the day, with the 39-year-old confident he could cause the pre-tournament favorite trouble in his final match of 2024.
“I don’t have the scoring power to compete with Luke Littler consistently, but I can shoot a double,” Joyce told reporters after the win, in which he made 62 percent of his double-double attempts and ensured he would finish the year in the field. the best 16 in the world.
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Luke Littler conceded a historic nine balls against Ryan Meikle in the second round.
“I’ll go into the game thinking I can win the match, but I’ll also feel like I’m the underdog who has to win. We’ve seen so much in sports that the favorite doesn’t always win, otherwise it would be boring watching, right?
“If Luke Littler plays at his absolute top level, he can beat anybody, if not, he’ll leave me alone.
“If he just has a couple of sets off, he’ll realize it’s two sets after four. I’m not going to drop a lot of doubles against him, so I think he’ll have to play well, but not his absolute best.” “.
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Luke Littler comments on his struggles to replay 10 and 20 against Ian White.
Less wary of the Joyce test
Littler crashed dozens of maximums and finished the set in just 39 darts in the win over White, where he overcame a slow start and moved one step closer to a potential semi-final showdown with defending champion Luke Humphreys.
“I know I can do a lot better, but it’s all about winning in the setter,” Littler insisted.
“My doubles needs to be a little bit better, but as soon as I won the first set tonight, I felt relaxed.
“I’m waiting for the same old Ryan (Joyce) to hit his double for the first or second time, but I’ve just got to take the chances when I can.”
Webster: Joyce will back himself to beat Littler
Littler’s average was the highest in three matches on Saturday night, but lower than his effort in the win over Meikle in the previous round, former Lakeside champion Mark Webster believed Joyce would feel he could cause an upset.
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Watch Luke Littler, Michael van Gerwen and Luke Humphreys take on the Mash Challenge on Sky Sports.
“For Littler, he knows there are tougher tests ahead,” Webster said Sky Sports. “Joyce is a really good finisher and if those opportunities come to Ryan, he’s going to take them, so Littler needs to be aware of that.
“I’m not saying he’s not enjoying himself now, but there’s a target on his back because he’s the favorite in the tournament. Yes, he’s not the leader, but he’s the favorite and there are expectations.
“Footballers want to have that opportunity to play him. Ryan Meikle did it, Ian White was next. He’ll be looking forward to the challenge and if you can be the man to beat him, you can be real here.” cause a stir.
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Ryan Joyce beat Ryan Searle’s comeback to win 4-3 and move into the fourth round.Joyce also hit an impressive 113 cash and there was a riot from Searle as he missed one 20 to leave the tops, all in the final set.
“Joyce finished brilliantly, so if he can stay in touch in the points element, he finished 62 per cent today (Saturday). We saw in the Grand Prix with the double-in and double-out element that suits him .
“He’ll back himself up to Ryan if nobody else does. As long as he believes he can win that game, that’s what matters.”
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