"A little bit of rust after my week away, but it was good to be back" - Luke Littler makes winning return at Poland Darts Masters

Luke Littler avoided a small scare from Adam Gawlas on Friday night to survive a late comeback from the Czech and book his place in the second round of the Poland Darts Masters with a 6-4 win.

The 17-year-old Englishman had travelled to Poland after a family holiday in Orlando to make his return to the World Series of Darts, having missing out on the Nordic Darts Masters last week. The teenage sensation did not seem to have lost his touch with a 12-darter and a 13-darter to take a 5-1 lead. In the seventh leg, Littler missed a matchdart on the bullseye, allowing Gawlas to make it 5-2 with a 13-darter. The Czech then reduced the deficit to 5-4 with another 13-darter and a 15-darter. Then Littler had enough and finished the match.

Read also

Schedule quarter-finals Poland Darts Masters 2024 including Michael van Gerwen, Luke Littler and Luke Humphries

“I started off well, but I struggled with the pace of the game,” admitted Littler afterwards in his post-match press conference. “There was always going to be a little bit of rust after my week away, but it was good to be back on stage in front of a great audience. It was like a Premier League night!”

Having had that little break away with the family though, Littler is feeling refreshed and refocused, a danger sign for all the youngsters rivals in Poland. "It was non stop. Premier League, Euro Tour, day at home, back for the Prem and back for another Euro Tour. So it was just nice to get away from the darts for a little bit," he explains.

Littler made a winning return against Adam Gawlas 

Although perhaps not at his best, Littler is glad to get through to the next round. "I just said to myself: just get over the line. Get it done," Littler says, not worried about the level of his performance. "I really didn't want to go to for a last leg decider."

Having survived the Gawlas fightback, Littler now faces off against Peter Wright. It will be the fourth time this season that 'The Nuke' and 'Snakebite' have faced each other. Littler won all three previous confrontations.

Read also

"There’s still a lot more to come from me" - Michael van Gerwen through to quarter-finals at Poland Darts Masters without hitting top form