A tearful Luke Littler almost hit a nine-darter as he started his bid for the PDC World Championship title with a dramatic 3-1 win over Ryan Meikle.
The 17-year-old made headlines around the world when he reached the tournament final in January, when he lost to Luke Humphries.
Starting this campaign on Saturday, Littler was millimetres away from darting perfection when he missed double 12, but threw a stunning 140.91 average in the final set.
He was overcome with emotion at the end, cutting short his on-stage interview.
Littler had started slowly againt Meikle, who had two darts for the opening set, but he took the lead by twice hitting double 20.
Meikle did not look overawed against his fellow Englishman and levelled, but Littler took the third set and exploded into life in the fourth.
The tournament favourite hit four maximum 180s as he took three straight legs in 11, 10 and 11 darts.
