‘I never get any respect’ – Nathan Aspinall vows to ‘prove you lot wrong’ against Luke Littler in World Championship tie
NATHAN ASPINALL has vowed to “prove people wrong” when he takes on Luke Littler.
The two friends will meet in the quarter-finals of the World Darts Championship on Wednesday evening.
Littler, 17, booked his spot in the final eight with an epic win over Ryan Joyce, while Aspinall beat Ricardo Pietreczko.
The Nuke is seen as the favourite to progress to the semi-finals at Ally Pally.
However, Aspinall is determined not be written off before the match.
He said: “You underestimate me, all of you. I never get any respect.
“I’m not going to go all Joe Cullen here, but I always get written off, no one ever talks about me, and I’m a two-time major champion and a fantastic dart player.
“I’ve come through so much, come back fighting and keep proving people wrong time and time again.
“It’s up to me to go up on that stage and prove you lot wrong who write me off.”
Aspinall has also hailed the crowd at Ally Pally as the best he has played in front of.
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He has insisted that he is relishing the role of the underdog when he comes to the oche against Littler.
He said: “That is probably the loudest and the best crowd I have ever played darts in, that was unbelievable.
World Darts Championship - top stories
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“I enjoyed every single moment of that game.
“It’s the first game that I’ve played that I’ve enjoyed in a long, long time, and hopefully my next game’s the same.
“I’m over the moon to make the quarter-finals.
“Luke is going to be favourite, but that spurs me on. I love being an underdog.”
During the match, play was stopped by Aspinall as he wanted to watch a fan down a whole jug of beer.
Darts Quarter-Final Draw
Here's how the last eight is shaping up at the World Darts Championship...
Wednesday, January 1
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
- Chris Dobey vs Gerwyn Price
- Michael van Gerwen vs Callan Rydz
Evening Session (7pm)
- Peter Wright vs Stephen Bunting
- Luke Littler vs Nathan Aspinall
List of all-time Darts World Champions
BELOW is a list of Darts world champions by year.
The list does not include winners from the pre-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) era or BDO world champions.
That means Raymond van Barneveld, for example, is only listed once – Barney also won four BDO titles – and none of Eric Bristow’s five BDO titles are included.
- 1994 – Dennis Priestley
- 1995 – Phil Taylor
- 1996 – Phil Taylor (2)
- 1997 – Phil Taylor (3)
- 1998 – Phil Taylor (4)
- 1999 – Phil Taylor (5)
- 2000 – Phil Taylor (6)
- 2001 – Phil Taylor (7)
- 2002 – Phil Taylor (8)
- 2003 – John Part
- 2004 – Phil Taylor (9)
- 2005 – Phil Taylor (10)
- 2006 – Phil Taylor (11)
- 2007 – Raymond van Barneveld
- 2008 – John Part (2)
- 2009 – Phil Taylor (12)
- 2010 – Phil Taylor (13)
- 2011 – Adrian Lewis
- 2012 – Adrian Lewis (2)
- 2013 – Phil Taylor (14)
- 2014 – Michael van Gerwen
- 2015 – Gary Anderson
- 2016 – Gary Anderson (2)
- 2017 – Michael van Gerwen (2)
- 2018 – Rob Cross
- 2019 – Michael van Gerwen (3)
- 2020 – Peter Wright
- 2021 – Gerwyn Price
- 2022 – Peter Wright (2)
- 2023 – Michael Smith
- 2024 – Luke Humphries
Most World Titles
- 14 – Phil Taylor
- 3 – Michael van Gerwen
- 2 – John Part, Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright
- 1 – Dennis Priestley, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Luke Humphries