World champion Luke Littler broke throw in the deciding leg against Nathan Aspinall to reach the last eight of the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam.
The 19-year-old trailed 9-8 in the best-of-19 contest, but he held throw to level the match before a 12-darter against the darts completed a 10-9 victory.
The two Englishmen had been involved in a World Matchplay classic in July, when Littler threw a nine-darter in the opening leg of an 11-8 victory.
“The pace of the game suits us both, we’re good friends and we bring the best out of each other,” said Littler, who has a chance to complete a clean sweep of the PDC’s premier events in 2026.
“I only played well in the last session [from 6-6 onwards]. In the first two sessions, I didn’t feel confident but I managed to get it to 6-6 and I was very good in the third.”
The world number one will meet former Premier League champion Jonny Clayton in the quarter-finals on Sunday.
Clayton beat Japan’s Motomu Sakai 10-8 and is one of two Welshmen in the last eight, with Gerwyn Price also progressing courtesy of a 10-5 win against Canada’s Jim Long.
England’s James Wade was the other winner in Saturday’s evening session, defeating Wessel Nijman of the Netherlands, and will face Price next.
Earlier on Saturday, world number two Luke Humphries lost the deciding leg of his last-16 match against Dirk van Duijvenbode.
His next opponent will be fellow Dutchman Gian van Veen, who was beaten by Littler in January’s World Championship final.
England’s Ross Smith and Northern Ireland’s Josh Rock also won their last-16 ties to complete the quarter-final line-up.
The tournament concludes on Sunday, with the quarter-finals taking place from 12:00 BST and the semi-finals and final being played during the evening session (18:00 BST).
- Ross Smith v Josh Rock
- Dirk van Duijvenbode v Gian van Veen
Gerwyn Price v James Wade
Luke Littler v Jonny Clayton
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Gian van Veen
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