Luke Littler bounced back from his 8-1 thrashing last week to Gerwyn Price by booking his spot in the quarter-finals of the New Zealand Darts Masters.
The teenager averaged over 102 in his victory against an impressive Jonny Tata, the best-performing Oceania representative across the two weeks.
He faces Dimitri Van den Bergh for a spot in the final four and could tee up another battle for the title against Price who’s in the opposite half of the draw.
The defeat last week was ‘The Nuke’s’ heaviest loss since bursting onto the scene at the World Championship, and the 17-year-old opened up on his thoughts.
Luke Littler says he doesn’t learn from defeats
In sport, it’s common for players and pundits to say competitors can learn from a defeat.
Littler dismissed this notion, however.
Speaking to Online Darts, he said: “It just happened. I don’t really learn anything from the defeat, I just pick myself back up and go again.”
The youngster has won seven titles in seven months since the start of the year, and he revealed his desire to continue his streak of winning a title every month.
He added: “I’d love to win over here [in New Zealand] and get another title, tick one off for August but if not, there’s plenty of chances.
“I’d like to pick up another major this year no matter what it is.”
Littler right to dismiss defeat
At its heart, darts is a simple game – throw dart, retrieve dart, repeat.
Players in the past have fallen victim to overanalysing their game after a painful defeat, negatively impacting them moving forward.
Though Littler was far from his best last week, his ability to put the match behind him to bounce back quickly is impressive at his young age.
He has shown a maturity beyond his years in his fledging career which has helped him land a handful of titles including the Premier League.
If the Warrington ace can reproduce the form he showed this morning throughout tomorrow, he will be odds on to lift a staggering eighth title in 2024.
Only Gary Anderson and Phil Taylor have lifted three World Series titles in one year, and Littler is looking to add his name to that exclusive list.