Luke Littler has revealed that slowing himself down was key to his dramatic comeback win over Josh Rock in the Grand Slam of Darts. Littler came back from 9-6 down to take a 16-12 victory, and stated that he gave himself “absolute hell” after trailing by three legs.

The win books the defending champion a place in the tournament’s semi-finals where he will meet Danny Noppert. His opponent beat Lukas Wenig 16-8 to get to the stage for the first time.

The clash against Rock was a dramatic one for Littler, who is now just one win away from claiming the number one spot from Luke Humphries. After falling behind in the 14th leg, Littler found himself 9-6 down.

However, he then won seven legs in a row to turn the game on its head. He wasn’t to be caught from there.

Speaking after the victory, Littler outlined how he managed to complete the comeback.

“I think I started the game throwing normally and found myself trailing,” he told Sky Sports. “9-6 down and I said to myself, ‘stop chasing the game’.

“[I] Moved over to the left a bit and was slowing my throw down, just the timing of all of my shots towards the end of that match, I couldn’t ask for anything better.”

When trailing 9-6, the 18-year-old could be seen saying ‘every time’ to himself. When asked what that was about, he gave an honest account.

“Oh, as soon as I got off them stairs I was giving myself absolute hell,” he said. “You don’t want to know what I was saying to myself!

“But like I said, 9-6 down, came back on and won the next five, but I slowed my throw down and the timing on all my shots, it really helped.”

The semi-final between Littler and Noppert will take place on Sunday afternoon. The other semi-final sees Humphries come up against Gerwyn Price.

The final, which will be the best of 31 legs, will then take place on Sunday evening with Littler aiming to defend his title.