Luke Littler reaches PDC World Championship last 16, Stephen Bunting bows out in epic seven-setter

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Littler in imperious form to reach World Championship last 16, Bunting bows out
© Imago / Action Plus

Luke Littler has breezed into the last 16 of the PDC World Championship with a 4-0 victory over Mensur Suljovic.

The 18-year-old is bidding to defend the title that he won 12 months ago and he will be difficult to stop should he repeat the level of performance that he produced on Saturday night.

Littler took the opening two sets with averages of 109.98 and 107.36 respectively as his Austrian opponent failed to earn a shot at a double.

 

Suljovic admirably held his own in set three, taking it to a deciding leg, but when the veteran was left on 101, Littler took out 124 on double 11.

While the fourth set was competitive, Littler dropped just one more leg to seal his progress to the next round with a 107.09 average, hitting nine 180s and recording an imperious 12 of his 16 double attempts.

Bunting loses epic to Hurrell

There was disappointment for Stephen Bunting as the fourth seed suffered a 4-3 defeat to James Hurrell.

Although Bunting was second best for large periods of the contest, he found a way to stay with an opponent who was averaging higher than him throughout.

Bunting hit checkouts of 161 and 121 to win the second and third sets respectively with world number 63 Hurrell waiting on a double both times.

 

However, Hurrell's consistency was too much for Bunting during the second half of the match, the former WDF number one easing 3-2 ahead before he lost his way in the sixth set with the finish line getting closer.

Nevertheless, he averaged 103.64 in taking the deciding set by a 3-1 scoreline, while he ended the contest with a 98.48 average and 46.15% checkout rate.

In the first match of the evening, Sweden's Andreas Harrysson continued his sensational run in the tournament with a 4-2 win over Ricardo Pietreczko

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