Luke Littler survives scare to reach Bahrain quarter-finals

Rob Cross was beaten by Paolo Nebrida early on.

Luke Littler secured his first win since becoming world champion. Picture: Zac Goodwin/PA

World champion Luke Littler survived a mid-match scare to advance to the quarter-finals of the Bahrain Darts Masters with a 6-3 victory over Philippine challenger Lourence Ilagan.

The opening round saw the eight PDC superstars take on the eight Asian representatives for a place in Friday’s final rounds.