Luke Littler shared that a remark from Ricardo Pietreczko motivated him to defeat the German 10-6, securing his spot in the quarter-finals of the Players Championship Finals. Despite initially trailing 3-1 to Pietreczko, Littler, also known as ‘The Nuke,’ staged a comeback, winning nine of the next 12 legs with an impressive average to advance to the next round in Minehead.
Littler disclosed that Pietreczko’s comment during the interval, when the score was tied at 5-5, fueled his determination. He revealed, “We’ve come back on at 5-5 and he said, before the caller came back on stage, ‘I was only looking forward to getting one leg and now I’ve got five.’ I just said to myself, ‘why say that?’ Inside to myself I said ‘you’re getting it, I’m gonna win this game’ and that’s what I done and that’s why I brought out the showboating.”
The young sensation, born in 2007, recently claimed the world No.1 title after winning the Grand Slam. He showcased exceptional performance with an average of 102.67 and six 180s in a remarkable display of power scoring. Littler even replicated a contentious 121 finish from a previous encounter, executing it uniquely with a bull, treble 7, bull combination.
Reflecting on his game, Littler mentioned, “Obviously I am never happy when I am losing, at 3-2 down I then got it back to five-all and I just had to kick on there. I knew there were no more breaks, we were on (stage) until the end and I managed to get the job done. I was not the best on my doubles tonight, but I can sharpen up on them again tomorrow afternoon.”
Up next, Littler is set to face world No.9 Chris Dobey in the quarter-final match on Sunday. A victory against Dobey would potentially lead him to meet the winner of Gerwyn Price’s duel with Daryl Gurney in the semi-finals. Meanwhile, Nathan Aspinall and Josh Rock will compete in another quarter-final tie, followed by James Wade and Jermaine Wattimena concluding the afternoon session at the Players Championship Finals.
