Luke Littler got a front-row seat to one of the more bizarre moments of this year’s UK Open as Gary Anderson spectacularly busted a 168 score during their last-16 clash in Minehead — handing the defending champion an unexpected lifeline in a match he was already beginning to take control of.
The incident, captured and shared by Sky Sports, came during a sixth-round tie that many had pencilled in as the stiffest challenge Littler would face before Finals Day. Anderson had been arguably the most impressive player in the early rounds of the tournament, consistently posting three-figure averages and drawing comparisons to the form that made him a major threat in his prime. Going into the match, the Flying Scotsman represented a genuine banana skin for the world number one.
As it turned out, Littler needed no help from the darts gods — but got it all the same. Anderson, attempting a 168 finish, saw the leg go catastrophically wrong as his darts combined to exceed his remaining score, the checkout busting in painful fashion and resetting his score for the leg. In darts, 168 is a legitimate three-dart combination — the route of T20, T20, D24 being the standard approach — meaning Anderson’s mis-throw on one of those three arrows sent him back to square one.
It was, in context, a moment that barely changed the outcome of a match Littler had already made his own. The world number one had raced into a commanding position, winning multiple legs in succession as his average climbed past the 100 mark. Anderson briefly halted the run but never truly threatened a comeback, and Littler eventually wrapped up the win with a composed 78 checkout.
Although Anderson started well in the first leg, it was all Littler from then as he found a different level with a 117 checkout and an 11-dart leg to break the throw on the way to romping into a 4-1 lead. After losing five legs on the spin, Anderson managed to stop the rot but still went into the final break with a 7-3 deficit. The 168 bust came as part of a second session in which Anderson’s attempts to mount a comeback repeatedly unravelled — first through Littler’s relentless pressure, and then, in that one extraordinary moment, through pure misfortune.
Anderson left the stage having lost 10-5, his tournament run over. The Flying Scotsman upped his level with comprehensive holds of throw but it was too little, too late as Littler sealed the win with a 78 checkout in just the second meeting between the two juggernauts.
For Littler, the Anderson scalp was the third step on a title-retention run that would ultimately bring him back-to-back UK Open glory. On the way to picking up the trophy, Littler beat Damon Heta, Kevin Doets, Gary Anderson, Danny Noppert, Josh Rock, and then Wade. The Anderson 168 bust will rank as one of the more surreal footnotes of the tournament — a freak moment in a match that ultimately had only one realistic winner, but a reminder that even the finest players in the world are not immune to the dartboard’s occasional cruelty.
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