Luke Littler shrugs off boos to beat Rob Cross in last 16 at World Championship

Luke Littler shrugged off the boos to book his place in the last eight of the PDC World Championship with a 4-2 win over former champion Rob Cross at Alexandra Palace.

The 18-year-old survived a minor scare as Cross came close to forcing a deciding set, earning the support of the raucous crowd which briefly threatened to rile the defending champion.

A charged-up Littler told Sky Sports: “I’m not bothered (about the crowd). Can I just say one thing? You guys pay for tickets and you pay for my prize money, so thank you for my money, thank you for booing me.

“I’ve just seen the stats, but I wasn’t really thinking of anything. I just wanted to win the game. It was hostile, nobody wanted me to win, but I proved them wrong.”

Littler averaged almost 107 and fired 17 180s in a high-quality contest that he had threatened to steamroll after easing into a 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven clash.

But Cross, the 2018 champion, overcame a scruffy start and reduced the arrears to 3-2 after nailing a 126 checkout on the bull in the deciding leg.

Cross had clearly grasped the momentum, and after moving 2-1 up in the sixth set he missed a single dart at tops to level at 3-3 – and was duly punished by Littler who took out the next two legs to reach the quarter-finals.

Earlier, world number 20 Ryan Searle averaged over 100 as he secured his fourth successive whitewash win with a 4-0 triumph over James Hurrell in Monday’s other last-16 clash.

Charlie Manby’s dream World Championship debut continued as he beat an out-of-sorts Ricky Evans 4-2 at to seal his place in round four.

Huddersfield bricklayer Manby, 20, is guaranteed a £60,000 pay-cheque after overcoming his early struggles on the doubles against Evans and now faces European champion