Luke Littler didn’t just survive Jermaine Wattimena – he rose from the brink, shook off the cobwebs, and turned a humiliation into headlines.
The Winter Gardens in Blackpool - take a bow. A venue that always delivers drama and quality once again served up a banquet fit for a State visit.
At 7-2 down, it looked like Littler’s Matchplay dreams were being bundled into the back of a Blackpool Uber. Wattimena was cruising – full of bounce, belief, and bang-on scoring. He strutted around like a man who’d finally cracked the Littler code. Sadly for him, his download corrupted around leg ten.
LITTLER'S MATCHPLAY MARATHON: Highlights of Littler vs Wattimena 2025
From that point, the wheels fell off – followed by the doors, engine, and chassis. Littler, who hadn’t really got going, suddenly burst into life like a firework someone sat on. He rattled off six straight legs in a blitz of 180s and icy finishing, turning the Empress Ballroom into a mosh pit and Wattimena into simply a spectator.
The Dutchman rallied, to hold on the The Nuke’s coattails for a while, but the inevitable was soon upon him.
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And when the chance finally came, The Nuke didn’t blink – returning to the trusty double ten to close out a 13-11 win and send a warning to anyone hoping to out-tough him.
Still sweating but very much smiling, Littler said afterwards:
“I’m a World Champion for a reason. I find these gears when I need it. Jermaine kept putting me under pressure. He was always right behind me, but when I got into the lead I was determined not to let it slip away.”
As for Wattimena, it’ll be hard to look at a scoreboard for a while. A 7-2 lead. A chance to knock out the most talked-about man in darts. Gone. Vanished. This one will sting for a long, long time.
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