Littler edges Aspinall in final-leg decider to reach World Series last eight

World champion Luke Littler beat Nathan Aspinall in a final-leg decider to reach the last eight of the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam on Saturday. Littler, 19, clinched the match in the deciding leg to advance.

Littler had trailed 9-8 in the best-of-19 tie and held throw in the 18th leg to force a decider. Needing to break Aspinall's throw in the 19th, he opened with his seventh 180 of the match and checked out 58 to complete a match-clinching 12-darter. The two Englishmen had met in a World Matchplay classic in July when Littler produced a nine-darter in the opening leg en route to an 11-8 win. Littler also has a chance to complete a clean sweep of the PDC's premier events in 2026.

"The pace of the game suits us both, we're good friends and we bring the best out of each other," said Littler. "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. Clayton is one of two Welshmen in the last eight, with Gerwyn Price 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 and set to face Price next.

Earlier on Saturday world number two Luke Humphries lost the deciding leg of his last-16 match against Dirk van Duijvenbode. Van Duijvenbode's next opponent will be fellow Dutchman Gian van Veen, who was beaten by Littler in January's World Championship final. Ross Smith and Northern Ireland's Josh Rock also won their last-16 ties to complete the quarter-final line-up, while champion Van Gerwen lost in the first round to Gurney.

The tournament concludes on Sunday, with the quarter-finals taking place from 12:00 BST and the semi-finals and final played during the evening session at 18:00 BST. The last-eight match-ups are Ross Smith v Josh Rock; Dirk van Duijvenbode v Gian van Veen; Gerwyn Price v James Wade; and Luke Littler v Jonny Clayton.