World number one Luke Littler launched his UK Open title defence with a dominant 10-3 victory over Damon Heta in Somerset, highlighted by a spectacular 170 checkout—his second 'Big Fish' in two days. The tournament in Minehead features over 100 PDC Tour card holders, 16 amateur qualifiers, and 16 players from the Winmau Challenge and Development tours. Littler, who entered in round four as part of the world's top 32, sealed the win with a stylish 120 finish, hitting treble 20, double 20, and double 10.
In other round four action, Michael van Gerwen edged past Nathan Aspinall 10-8 after trailing 4-2, praising Aspinall as "a fighter" and admitting he gave "The Asp" too many chances. Luke Humphries, ranked world number two, beat Luke Woodhouse 10-3, while third-ranked Gian van Veen fell 10-7 to Rob Cross. Danny Noppert hit a nine-darter during his 10-4 win over Dimitri van den Bergh. Earlier, Beau Greaves, who recently became the first woman to achieve a nine-darter on the PDC ProTour, exited in round two with a 6-4 loss to Darryl Pilgrim.
Saturday's fifth round will see Littler face Kevin Doets, Van Gerwen take on Kai Gotthardt, and Humphries meet Dave Chisnall.
