World Series of Darts final: Littler beats Van Barneveld to reach last 16

Teenager Luke Littler beat Raymond van Barneveld 6-4 to reach the last eight of the World Series of Darts final in Amsterdam.

Littler, 17, took a 3-1 lead against the 57-year-old Dutchman but struggled to consolidate his advantage.

Van Barneveld reduced the deficit to one set three times, before Littler took victory with an 86 checkout in the 10th.

Littler will now face fellow Englishman Chris Dobey in the quarter-finals on Sunday, who beat Croatian Boris Krcmar 6-4.

World champion Luke Humphries also qualified after a nervy 6-5 win over Australia’s Damon Heta.

Humphries will face defending champion Michael van Gerwen, who beat fellow Dutchman Danny Noppert 6-3.

England’s Rob Cross and compatriot Michael Smith both survived scares to also reach the quarter-finals.

Dutchman Kevin Doets missed four match darts as he led 5-3 in the ninth game against Cross, who then reeled off three straight legs to progress 6-5.

Another Dutchman, Wessel Nijman, missed three match darts when leading 5-3 against Smith, and another three when the match was tied at 5-5, before the world number two prevailed.

Northern Ireland’s Daryl Gurney beat Wales’ Gerwyn Price 6-3 to advance to the quarter-finals against Scotland’s Peter Wright, who beat Canada’s Jeff Smith 6-2.