LONDON -- Luke Littler has spoken of his delight at seemingly winning back the Alexandra Palace crowd during his quarterfinal win, four days after being booed during his victory over Rob Cross in the fourth round.
Littler, 18, was booed heavily during the match against Cross and antagonised the crowd further when he crassly thanked them for buying the tickets that pay for his substantial prize money.
All the talk heading into his match against Ratajski was about the reaction he would receive from the crowd, but after initially being met with a few boos, 'The Nuke' got them back on side with a virtuoso display and 5-0 victory.
"Obviously it's a new year, first day of the year. A few boos here and there but as soon as I got on stage, the crowd were absolutely unbelievable," Littler told a news conference.
"Leading up to it, my family and friends were just like, 'whatever happens, happens.' And yeah, as soon as I got on stage, I clapped everyone just so they know I want them on my side again, but yeah, they were on my side tonight and I got the job done. So hopefully it's the same again tomorrow."
Asked to what extent the crowd can impact his performance, Littler replied: "I don't think it does. "Obviously I'm growing as a player mentally. I know how to deal with it and I think the Rob Cross game, definitely tested me. But yeah, I got through it and in future games, I know how to deal with it and get past it."
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Littler will face Ryan Searle in the semifinals after 'Heavy Metal' continued his impressive form with a 5-1 triumph over Jonny Clayton.
Meanwhile, Gian van Veen is emerging as the man perhaps most capable of stopping Littler defending his title.
The Dutchman was in scintillating form as he knocked out world No. 2 Luke Humphries in the last match of the evening session.
Information from PA contributed to this story.