Luke Littler has further enhanced his growing reputation with a remarkable performance to defeat Christian Kist in the PDC World Championship first round.
The 16-year-old - who was recently crowned the world youth champion - is making his debut in the tournament and has already secured a PDC Tour Card for the next two years.
However, his performance will go down as the best-ever maiden display at the Alexandra Palace as he thrashed Kist by a 3-0 scoreline, dropping just two legs in the process.
Up until the final two legs, Littler was on course to enter the top-10 World Championship averages of all time before having to settle for 106.12.
LUDICROUS FROM LITTLER 🤯
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 20, 2023
106.12 average ✅
7️⃣ x 180s
50% on the doubles 🎯
A truly ridiculous performance on debut from 16-year-old Luke Littler as he beats Christian Kist 3-0!
📺 https://t.co/f3RU9WTIoD#WCDarts | R1 pic.twitter.com/WioSlPaxYq
Astonishingly, his nine winning legs were all 15 darts or fewer as he posted a 50% checkout-rate and hit seven maximums.
Kist, a former Lakeside champion, averaged over 90 in what would have challenged many other first-round participants, but it is Littler who has set up a showdown with UK Open champion Andrew Gilding on Thursday night.
Earlier in the night, Ryan Joyce impressed as he came from behind to defeat American Alex Spellman by a 3-1 scoreline, while Richard Veenstra progressed with a 3-0 triumph over Ben Robb.
