World champion Littler survives scare as Humphries downs Chisnall at World Masters

[p]Fresh from his 8-5 triumph against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-gerwen-michael/SU4UkKsm/"]Michael van Gerwen[/a] in the Saudi Arabia Darts Masters final, the world champion raced out of the blocks with three 180’s to take the first set. [/p][p]Almost everyone would have expected [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/littler-luke/0URN6Xks/"]Littler[/a] to surge into the next round, but [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/de-decker-mike/ARzd8nfD/"]De Decker[/a] fought back in the second set with perfection on the outer ring, including a classy 121 finish on the bullseye. [/p][p]The 2024 World Grand Prix champion continued to punish his opponent in the third set by keeping his cool on double 16 after Littler missed multiple darts at double 10. [/p][p]De Decker put himself in a strong position to pull off a massive upset and pinned double 16 to win his fourth consecutive leg against the world number one. [/p][p]That sparked Littler into life, though, and in the second leg of set four, the 19-year-old missed double 15 for a spectacular nine-dart finish before cleaning up double 15 in his following visit. [/p][p]But just when everyone thought the drama couldn’t get any more thrilling, De Decker narrowly missed double 11 for a stunning 142 checkout to knock out the tournament favourite, and that was all she wrote. [/p][p]Littler held his nerve in the final set of the match to wrap up a 3-2 victory and book his place in the last 16 against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/smith-ross/l8mIsYNm/"]Ross Smith[/a]. [/p][embed guid="6d388627-b287-4d7e-9aa3-d138430cae9b" url="https://x.com/OfficialPDC/status/2017363676752212348?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][h2]Humphries turns it on against Chisnall[/h2][p]After Littler almost tasted defeat against De Decker, all eyes were on his closest challenger, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/humphries-luke/n34VOAWo/"]Luke Humphries[/a], in a showdown with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/chisnall-dave/vRDFv29c/"]Dave Chisnall[/a]. [/p][p]Humphries was hoping to retain his crown after beating [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/clayton-jonny/tx0y2xRD/"]Jonny Clayton[/a] in 2025, and the 30-year-old struggled to get going in the early stages against Chisnall. [/p][p]'Chizzy' took the first set after 'Cool Hand' Luke missed six darts at double and averaged a measly 87.24. [/p][p]But the 2024 world champion responded in world-class fashion with a mind-blowing 125 average in the second set before hitting back-to-back 11-dart legs to take control of the match. [/p][p]That was followed by an equally emphatic fourth set - including a missed dart at the bullseye on the 170 checkout - before tidying up the 25 to clinch a 3-1 win. [/p][embed guid="298a8f55-cbd0-4e22-aad0-540e0cd56639" url="https://x.com/OfficialPDC/status/2017371525234524466?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Humphries has set up a showdown with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/woodhouse-luke/QyQzAjPh/"]Luke Woodhouse[/a], who averaged a stunning 108.64 on his way to thrashing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/schindler-martin/pWemrnqQ/"]Martin Schindler[/a] 3-0 in sets before Ross Smith survived an early scare against debutant [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-schie-jimmy/bVfvhls2/"]Jimmy van Schie[/a] to secure a 3-1 victory. [/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/noppert-danny/YmMfGEz0/"]Danny Noppert[/a]’s class prevailed against a resurgent [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gurney-daryl/UBbHHv2p/"]Daryl Gurney[/a] as the Dutchman clinched a 3-1 win, and the highlight of his performance was a sumptuous 105 finish (two double tops) in the decisive third set. [/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/searle-ryan/UFF3Eh5C/"]Ryan Searle[/a] was slow out of the blocks in his showdown with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cross-rob/zs8lbtNH/"]Rob Cross[/a], but did threaten to mount a spectacular comeback after going 2-0 down. [/p][p]The 2026 World Championship semi-finalist threw seven perfect darts at the start of the third set and even averaged a whopping 111.55 in the fifth, but that wasn’t enough to stop Cross in his tracks as the former world champion pulled off a shock 3-1 win.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rock-josh/xKxxNY1P/"]Josh Rock[/a] produced a solid, yet unspectacular display in his 3-1 triumph over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/scuut-connor/Gn5sph7C/"]Connor Scutt[/a], before [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bunting-stephen/xANKMtPG/"]Stephen Bunting[/a] wrapped up the night's action with a win by the same scoreline against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/de-graaf-jeffrey/QihQLWNE/"]Jeffrey De Graaf[/a]. [/p][embed guid="52a7ca29-9a29-4c27-b9bb-f5e72fa0f43f" url="https://x.com/OfficialPDC/status/2017379136818307183?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/darts/world/pdc-world-masters/"]Follow the World Masters with Flashscore[/a][/h2]