Luke Littler will not get the opportunity to settle any lasting anomisity between himself and Ricardo Pietreczko at the World Darts Championship.
German thrower Pietreczko squared up to Littler after their Belgian Darts Open semi-final in March. A cocky attempt at tops and the bullseye to take out 90 by Littler appeared to irk Pietreczko, and frosty words were exchanged during a tense post-match handshake.
After that tie, which Littler won comfortably, Pietreczko wrote on Instagram: “Well, I really appreciated him being able to play a game like that at such an age, but I hope his arrogance punishes him.”
Littler and Pietreczko have not met in a competitive setting since, but they were on course to face off in the quarter-finals at the Ally Pally later this week.
However, ‘Pikachu’ could not hold up his end of the bargain as he was thrashed by Nathan Aspinall in the final match of Monday’s afternoon session. Pietreczko – normally a fiery character on the oche – went down smiling but with a whimper, averaging just 78.46 and taking only two legs compared to Aspinall’s 12.
The result means that Littler will face ‘The Asp’ in the last eight if he defeats Ryan Joyce in his fourth-round clash, and his settler with Pietreczko will be put on hold.
Leading up to his meeting with the German, Aspinall described Pietreczko as an ‘odd character’ and vowed to ‘smash him’ in front of a partisan London crowd. “Ricardo is a great darts player but he’s an odd character,” he said. “That’s all I can say.
“He keeps himself to himself. Brings his partner everywhere. I don’t speak to him. I don’t know much about his life. I don’t care what he’s like as a person. I’m going up there to smash him on the dartboard. If I produce what I can do, he doesn’t stand a chance.”
Following his own brush with Pietreczko earlier this year, 17-year-old Littler acknowledged that every competitor will be fired up to play him given his meteoric rise at such a young age.
“I think, ever since I have burst onto the scene, I know every player wants to beat me,” the world No. 4 told Sky Sports. “Even my family and my manager have said you have always got to be on your A game because anyone who plays me now, it is a cup final to them.”
