Teenage sensation Luke Littler and “Hollywood” Chris Dobey joined stable-mate Nathan Aspinall in round three of the World Championship ensuring the entire ZXF contingent a return to Ally Pally action after the Christmas break. 

Once again it was the 17-year old wonder kid who stole the headlines with a breath-taking tournament record 140.91 final set average in which fans shared the youngster’s ninth dart agony as he teased yet another perfect leg.

 With the initial draw throwing up a potential dream match-up between Littler and Fallon Sherrock it was Ryan Meikle who prevented the Queen of the Palace facing the boy who would be King.

 After a tense opening set, it was the tournament favourite who led Meikle by completing a ton checkout with a show-stopping brace of double tops in the decisive fifth leg.

 Frustratingly, Littler’s renowned scoring power eluded him after the interval allowing the Ipswich arrow-smith to draw level and raise the possibility of a huge upset.

 Thankfully for the Warringtonian, his blip was short lived as he rapidly reasserted his presence to regain control and move from within one set of victory.

 What happened next will forever be etched in the World Championship archives as the Nuke wrapped things up with an explosive few minutes of pure excellence.

 Kicking off with two maximums, the crowd cumulatively held their breath as Littler looked to re-enact Christian Kist’s recent moment of mastery with the magical nine dart leg. Instead, a collective pantomime groan echoed around the venue after seeing the teenager’s next arrow narrowly miss the treble.

 Seconds later, hopes were reignited with a carbon copy start before the reigning Premier League Champ returned to the oche and stared down D12 on his third dart. But expectation quickly turned into despair as it agonisingly fell short of its target.

 Not even the consolation of cleaning up the winning set in just thirty-two throws could hide Littler’s slight post match disappointment at being denied perfection.

 It’s Ian White or Richie Edhouse next up for Luke as he continues his quest for the sport’s biggest prize.