Luke Littler turns jeers into cheers with quarter-final win as Luke Humphries suffers shock exit

Some fans did still boo a pre-match sight of Littler giving an interview on Sky Sports but, by the time he had actually emerged to Pitbull’s Greenlight, they were largely back to cheering. Littler responded with applause of his own and, with Ratajski failing to reach the heights that had got him this far, it was one of those matches when the defending champion could win and entertain in equal measure.

The highlight was that 170 bullseye finish to win a close opening set but there were also a further three 100-plus checkouts to average above three figures for the fourth time in his five matches.

It is that relentless consistency that will make Littler such a big favourite to reach a hat-trick of finals when he faces Ryan Searle on Friday night. Searle might only be ranked 20th in the world but, like Littler, he has also made his way into the last four with a dominant 15-2 set aggregate in his favour.

After the emotional on-stage reaction on Monday, when Littler himself admitted that he “lost his head”, it was noticeable that the Sky Sports coverage should break for several minutes before he performed his post-match interview in the studio with the presenter Emma Paton. This was once the standard arrangement but represented a break from recent convention and gave Littler rather more time to gather his thoughts.

“I didn’t feel comfortable,” said Littler, citing issues with his grip. “But hopefully now, playing day after day, I’ll play better tomorrow.”