Luke Littler begins defence of Belgian Darts Open title with routine victory

By Press Association Sport Staff

Luke Littler averaged nearly 105 as he began the defence of his Belgian Darts Open title with a 6-2 win over Boris Krcmar.

Two days after coming from 5-0 down to beat Gerwyn Price 6-5 to win the latest Premier League round of action in Dublin, Littler had more of a routine evening at the Oktoberhallen in Wieze.

Littler moved 4-0 ahead, taking out double 19 twice, although the two-time world champion did not have it all his own way after missing five match darts in the seventh leg against his Croatian opponent.

He rebounded with back-to-back 180s and while he was unable to finish with a nine-darter, the 19-year-old secured victory with a 104.7 average to set up a last-16 clash against Niels Zonneveld, who edged out last year’s runner-up Mike De Decker 6-5.

LITTLER ADVANCES IN STYLE!

Luke Littler beings his title defence in strong fashion, recording a 104.70 average despite missing five match darts in the previous leg to see off Boris Krcmar 6-2!

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— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) March 21, 2026

World number two Luke Humphries was given a major scare before seeing off Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4.

Humphries raced into a 4-0 lead but his Dutch rival hit back and missed a dart to level at 5-5, allowing the Englishman to capitalise and close out victory with a 100.25 average.

Michael van Gerwen was also a 6-4 winner against Mickey Mansell while Jonny Clayton had few alarms in beating Sebastian Bialecki.

But James Wade and Stephen Bunting were early casualties as they lost their second-round matches to Cristo Reyes and Andy Baetens respectively.