Luke Littler beats Mensur Suljovic to stroll into World Championship fourth round

The 18-year-old, who will face either Rob Cross or Damon Heta in the next round, said on his on-stage interview: “That’s the best I [have] felt. I think even last year’s tournament and the one before that, that’s the most I’ve been settled and it goes to show [with] the average, the finishing and all the ton-plus checkouts.

“Like we do every year, we always pack enough clothes to the final, so we’re packed for six, seven days. But yeah, that’s another round out the way, and I’ll be back in a few days.”

Earlier, Stephen Bunting was the highest seed to crash out of this year’s tournament as he lost to James Hurrell.

Hurrell had upset 29th seed Dirk van Duijvenbode before Christmas and produced another determined display to see off popular Merseysider Bunting in a deciding set.

Fourth seed Bunting looked out of sorts as Hurrell secured the first set 3-1 against the darts – and was in deep trouble at 2-0 down in the second, before fighting back to level then landing a superb 161 checkout to pinch the deciding leg.