Littler created history in January when he became the youngest world champion, reigning supreme on the Alexandra Palace stage as a 17-year-old.

Luke Littler returned to the scene of his greatest moment in style as he eased through the opening round at the World Championship.

Littler created history in January when he became the youngest world champion, reigning supreme on the Alexandra Palace stage as a 17-year-old.

He has set his sights on becoming the first man to defend his title since Gary Anderson in 2016 and got off to a winning start against Darius Labanauskas.

Twelve months ago, Littler was in tears after escaping a nervy opening match against Ryan Meikle, but the champion was not going to allow a repeat, sweeping to a 3-0 victory in just 25 minutes.

He averaged an impressive

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