"Brilliant to see someone fulfil their potential in that way" - Brendan Dolan full of praise for Luke Littler after their World Championship QF clash

The World Darts Championship produced a fine run to the quarterfinal stages for Brendan Dolan. After handsome wins over Gerwyn Price and Gary Anderson, he eventually succumbed to teenage sensation Luke Littler in the last eight.

“It was unusual to be playing someone so young,'' Dolan reflected to Sunday Life on his World Cup match against the eventual runner-up at Alexandra Palace. “He qualified for the worlds through the development tour. I wasn’t naive as I knew how good he’d been earlier in the tournament and that he had been winning things on the amateur circuit. I knew enough about him, I wasn’t caught on the hop or anything, it just wasn’t my day.”

Despite the disappointment of his eventual defeat, Dolan can look back at the tournament with immense pride. “I’m delighted with my performance and the results I got along the way, I was a bit disappointed I didn’t put up a better showing in the quarter-final against Luke," he analyses. “There are days that for whatever reason it doesn’t click up there but the fans were never going to be on my side. In the earlier rounds I beat the two best players on the floor this year stat-wise in Gerwyn Price and Gary Anderson so it was pleasing to beat those two. On any given day in any given game I can beat anyone, but I can also lose to anyone, but that’s Brendan Dolan unfortunately!”

Dolan expects Littler to have a nice and long career ahead of him. “Everyone seemed to like him backstage, it’s great to see youth coming through and it’s brilliant to see someone fulfil their potential in that way, although obviously not against yourself. It’s great, it brings more youngsters into the game and a lot of media attention and in the long run it’s all just very beneficial for the sport. I would say people were surprised by his composure on such a big stage at a massive event, he handled himself very well so he did.”