Littler into the final weekend of the Grand Slam of Darts

Littler made it through to the last eight with a dominant victory over Wessel Nijman, but Michael van Gerwen is out after going down to fellow Dutchman Danny Noppert.

Teenage world champion Littler powered into a five-leg lead to leave Nijman staring down the barrel, landing a hat-trick of 15-darters and legs of 13 and 12 darts to assert his dominance.

Nijman won three of the next four legs to threaten a stirring fightback, but the Dutchman paid the price for spurning three darts in a crucial 10th leg, which would have reduced the arrears to 6-4.

Littler took full advantage to wrap up an emphatic victory, registering 12 and 11-dart holds to triumph with an astonishing 83 per cent checkout success rate.

“Wessel and I have had our battles in the past, so to get that win over him was special,” insisted Littler, who has won 11 consecutive games on the Aldersley stage. “I had to switch on tonight. I’ve won titles like the World Matchplay coming back from 5-0 down, but tonight I wanted to prove a point and start strongly.

"I know if I get to the final I’ll be world number one, so I’m taking it game by game and hopefully Josh and I can have another great game like we did at the World Matchplay."

Littler will now renew his rivalry with Rock in a repeat of their epic semi-final clash in July’s World Matchplay, after the Northern Irishman edged out Connor Scutt to triumph in a last-leg shootout.

The World Cup champion punished a profligate start from Scutt to race into a 3-0 lead, before overcoming a mid-game slump to seal his progress with a 14-dart hold in the decider.

“We both didn’t play as well as we could tonight,” reflected Rock, who converted a brace of ton-plus checkouts on his way to victory. “I’ve never missed the treble 20 as much in my life. I just couldn’t hit the treble 20 at all.

“I am absolutely grateful I won that game, but I did not deserve to win. I need to wake up after that game.”

Elsewhere, Van Gerwen’s bid for a fourth Grand Slam of Darts crown was derailed by a superb Noppert, who came out on top in a high-quality contest against his former World Cup partner.

Noppert led 3-2 following a sensational opening session which featured 170 checkouts from both players, as well as a 160 combination from Van Gerwen.

Former UK Open champion Noppert was averaging 112 in the opening exchanges, and Van Gerwen was unable to live with his compatriot’s consistency, succumbing 10-6 despite landing eight 180s.

“It was a rollercoaster. I think I coped well under pressure, so I’m really happy,” claimed Noppert, who will take on Lucas Wenig for a place in the semi-finals - in a repeat of their dramatic Group H encounter. “Over the whole game I played well. Everything went my way, but in the end I was a little bit nervous.

“If I keep playing like this and maintain this form, I think there will be problems for everyone.”

Wenig, meanwhile, recorded a landmark 10-8 victory over his fellow countryman Niko Springer in advancing to his maiden televised quarter-final.

Having secured top spot in Group H, the unheralded German continued his breakthrough run with a clinical display of doubling in Wolverhampton.

Springer made the early running, but a sensational 154 checkout from Wenig in leg nine sparked the turnaround, with the 31-year-old winning four of the last five legs to prevail.

“I don’t find words for this, this is so amazing,” admitted Wenig, who also won four matches in last month’s Tour Card Holder Qualifier to seal his qualification. “The stage has not been my friend, I have had really big problems up there, so to go to the quarter-finals really is unbelievable.”

The quarter-finals of the Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts begin tonight, as world number one Luke Humphries faces Michael Smith in a battle of the former Grand Slam champions.

Elsewhere, three-time winner Gerwyn Price takes on Ricky Evans, who is featuring in his maiden Grand Slam of Darts quarter-final.