Luke Littler has hit back after James Wade branded him as being ‘lazy’ following their World Masters match on Saturday.
Littler, 18, and Wade, 41, both took to the oche on Saturday at the World Masters darts event, which is taking place at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England.
The teenage sensation won every set as he romped to a 4-0 trouncing of Wade to secure a spot in the World Masters quarter-finals.
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Earlier in the day, defending Masters champion Stephen Bunting beat Peter Wright 4-2 to set up a last-eight-match against Danny Noppert. While Luke Humphries beat Josh Rock 4-0 to advance to the quarter-finals - he will take on Damon Heta.
The 18-year-old set up a quarter-final match against Johnny Clayton on Sunday. And it’s fair to say Wade did not take the defeat well as he labelled Littler as “lazy” shortly after the loss.
“I still think it’s laughable that people don’t think I can win things… I still think I’ll win TV majors and I don’t see why not,” Wade said.
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“After tonight’s performance not great. I don’t believe anyone is amazing apart from the Luke [Littler] and the Luke [Humphries].
"And after that, they could be quite lazy, they’re not Phil Taylors they’re not Michael van Gerwens at their best.
“But there are gaps in the market and it is what it is.”
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Now, Littler has responded to Wade’s harsh words when he assessed his own performance.
“I didn’t see it [the claim],” Littler said. “But he’s right, I am lazy in the practice room as well.
“I don’t have to practice for hours and hours while in the practice room. You know yourself as a player when you’ve practiced for that long you’re warmed up and ready to go.”
The starlet also gave his thoughts on his upcoming opponent Johnny Clayton and admitted he has been “playing well”.
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“He’s been playing well Jonny [Clayton, Littler’s next opponent],” Littler explained. “But as for myself, I’ve played really well.
“It’s an early wake-up tomorrow and just go to bed and refresh and come back tomorrow.”
World Masters quarter-final matches
Luke Humphries v Damon Heta
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Danny Noppert v Stephen Bunting
Luke Littler v Jonny Clayton
Dimitri van den Bergh v Nathan Aspinall
Topics: Darts, Luke Littler
Luke Davies