Littler too hot for Heta at Austrian Darts Open

​​​​​Luke Littler avenged his quarter-final defeat to Damon Heta at March’s UK Open in style, averaging 106 as he scorched ‘The Heat’ to reach the last 16 of the NEO.bet Austrian Darts Open.

Littler was beaten 10-8 by Heta in a high-quality match in Minehead last month but won 6-2 in Graz on Saturday to secure a third-round meeting with Poland’s Krzysztof Ratajski on Sunday afternoon.

The teenager – who collected his third nightly victory of the Premier League season in Liverpool on Thursday – could face Michael van Gerwen in the semi-finals in Austria, with the quarter-finals onwards to be contested on Sunday night.

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Michael van Gerwen is safely through to the final day of the tournament in Graz

Van Gerwen dispatched fellow Dutchman Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-1 in the second round and next faces Peter Wright after his fellow former world champion edged past American Danny Lauby 6-5.

Elsewhere, there were victories for Jonny Clayton – who thumped Chris Dobey 6-1 – Danny Noppert, Joe Cullen, Dave Chisnall and Ritchie Edhouse, but Rob Cross lost 6-4 to Daryl Gurney.

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Ross Smith pipped Raymond van Barneveld in a last-leg shootout by firing in a 12-darter in the decider, with the Englishman averaging nigh on 106 during his nail-biting triumph over the Dutchman.

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Stephen Bunting pinned two 170 finishes while beating Richard Veenstra 6-5

Stephen Bunting, Josh Rock and Gian van Veen also went all the way before beating Richard Veenstra, Dimitri Van den Bergh and Ryan Searle respectively – Bunting pinning two 170 finishes during his win.

Martin Schindler, who won his first PDC title at the International Darts Open earlier this month when he beat Gerwyn Price in the final, swept fellow German Ricardo Pietreczko 6-0.

Another German, Daniel Klose, also advanced as he defeated former UK Open champion Andrew Gilding 6-2, having come into the tournament as a replacement for Price (trapped nerve in his back).

Austrian Darts Open – Saturday’s second-round results

Afternoon session

Krzysztof Ratajski 6-2 Dom Taylor

Danny Noppert 6-3 Wessel Nijman

Ritchie Edhouse 6-2 Dirk van Duijvenbode

Stephen Bunting 6-5 Richard Veenstra

Gian van Veen 6-5 Ryan Searle

Joe Cullen 6-3 Darius Labanauskas

Daryl Gurney 6-4 Rob Cross

Dave Chisnall 6-4 Brendan Dolan

Evening session

Martin Schindler 6-0 Ricardo Pietreczko

Daniel Klose 6-2 Andrew Gilding

Ross Smith 6-5 Raymond van Barneveld

Josh Rock 6-5 Dimitri Van den Bergh

Michael van Gerwen 6-1Jeffrey de Zwaan

Peter Wright 6-5 Danny Lauby

Jonny Clayton 6-1 Chris Dobey

Luke Littler 6-2 Damon Heta

​​​​​​Austrian Darts Open – Sunday’s third-round matches

Dave Chisnall vs Joe Cullen

Ritchie Edhouse vs Gian van Veen

Daryl Gurney vs Stephen Bunting

Martin Schindler vs Jonny Clayton

Krzysztof Ratajski vs Luke Littler

Danny Noppert vs Josh Rock

Daniel Klose vs Ross Smith

Michael van Gerwen vs Peter Wright

Watch Night 14 of Premier League Darts, in Aberdeen, live on Sky Sports Action from 7pm on Thursday May 2 or stream with NOW.

Premier League Darts, Night 14, Aberdeen – live on Sky Sports from 7pm on Thursday May 2

Quarter-finals

Peter Wright vs Michael Smith

Luke Littler vs Nathan Aspinall

Michael van Gerwen vs Rob Cross

Gerwyn Price vs Luke Humphries

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