World number one Luke Littler got his UK Open defence off to a winning start, overcoming Damon Heta 10-3 with another ‘Big Fish’ checkout along the way.
The tournament at Minehead, Somerset, sees more than 100 PDC Tour card holders take on 16 amateur qualifiers and a further 16 players from the Winmau Challenge and Development tours.
As the world’s top 32 entered the fray in round four, Littler took out 170 to move 7-2 ahead – a day after having notched two in his first Premier League win of the year.
He signed off in style shortly afterwards with a 120 finish comprising treble 20, double 20 and double 10.
Other action saw Michael van Gerwen edge past Nathan Aspinall 10-8 after coming from 4-2 down.
Describing Aspinall as “a fighter”, Van Gerwen told ITV he had kept “cool, especially at the end of the game” but admitted he had given “The Asp” too many chances.
Meanwhile, world number two Luke Humphries beat Luke Woodhouse 10-3, Gian van Veen – ranked three – was beaten 10-7 by Rob Cross, and Danny Noppert hit a nine-darter during his 10-4 win over Dimitri van den Bergh.
