Luke Littler has revealed he has no idea why he turned down a 180 to try for the ‘Big Fish’ in his win over Haupai Puha at the Australian Darts Masters.
The 18-year-old scraped past the New Zealander to make the quarter-finals in a 6-5 win.
However, it could have been so much easier if he hadn’t gone for the Big Fish in the second-last leg.
The 18-year-old was leading 5-4 when he elected to leave 170 rather than slam in a 180 to set up an easier finish.
Littler then missed his attempt at bullseye to allow Puha to take the match to a decider in which he had the darts.
But the current world champion rallied to claim the win and set up a contest against Damon Heta with a 13-dart leg.
And after the contest, Littler revealed he wasn’t sure why he decided to leave the 170 with the win in his hands.
Speaking to Darts Now, he said: “I don’t even know. I think just for myself.
“Obviously, at that point, I was 5-4 up.
“Maybe I should have tried to hit the 180 because I knew Haupai had the darts in the last leg.
“But I just felt I’d try and leave it and finish it.
“If not, I’d have to break the throw in the last leg.”
Littler and the Big Fish
In darts, the 170 is the highest checkout and the hardest to successfully pull off.
Littler is no stranger in hitting in and knows he can do it and afford the time to leave himself on it.
However, by his own admission, he clearly isn’t sure his latest attempt was the right timing.
In the end, he made it through, so it won’t matter too much, but Littler knows that decision could have knocked him out of the Australian Masters.
When Littler hits the 170, he turns to the crowd and pretends he is fishing.
And after completing the feat during the Premier League earlier this year, the Warrington-born star jokingly claimed the celebration should be his and his alone.
So, the player has an affinity with this particular finish, and he will hope to pull one off for real across the remainder of the tournament.
He takes on Heta on Sunday as Littler looks to make yet another semi-final.