Luke Littler laughed at fans booing him after booking his place in the last eight of the PDC World Championship.
‘The Nuke’ was too good for former world champion Rob Cross, prevailing with a 4-2 win at Alexandra Palace, with a raucous crowd delivering a hostile environment.
The 18-year-old was almost pushed to a deciding set, but eventually closed out the match with an average of almost 107 and 17 180s.
Asked about his reception, Littler opted for a fiery response, goading the crowd and thanking them for contributing to his earnings, with a record £1m prize pot for the winner at this year, double his first-place prize in last year’s edition.
"I'm not bothered, really, I'm really not bothered," Littler said before bursting into laughter.
"Can I say one thing, you guys pay for tickets that pays for my prize money, so thank you, thank you for my money, thank you for booing me, thank you, come on!
"I've just seen the stats but I wasn't really thinking of anything. I just wanted to win the game. It was hostile, nobody wanted me to win, but I proved them wrong."
It was an unusual experience for Littler, who has been the darling of the Alexandra Palace crowd since bursting onto the scene two years ago, and he admitted he “lost” his head with his response.
“Two years ago I think I would have started throwing my darts left-handed, but that is how much I have grown, how much I have matured,” the defending champion said.
“People might say I have not matured, but try and be in my position. I can still learn a lot. I can learn how to deal with the crowd, not let as much emotion out, just keep it all in me until that final dart.
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"That's the first time I've been at the World Championships and the crowd have not wanted me to win. I will expect the worst on New Year's Day and whatever happens will happen.
"The fans did what they did, I reacted like any other player would, I think I might have reacted a bit too early on after the first set and when I came on for the second set I said to myself, 'Yeah, you've reacted too early here'.
"I just had to get on with the job. It wasn't really at the front of the mind because they want the underdog to win or they want the game to go on even longer."
Cross, the 2018 champion, overcame a scruffy start and reduced the arrears to 3-2 after nailing a 126 checkout on the bull in the deciding leg.
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Cross had clearly grasped the momentum, and after moving 2-1 up in the sixth set he missed a single dart at tops to level at 3-3 - and was duly punished by Littler who took out the next two legs to reach the quarter-finals.
Earlier, world number 20 Ryan Searle averaged over 100 as he secured his fourth successive whitewash win with a 4-0 triumph over James Hurrell in Monday's other last-16 clash.
Charlie Manby's dream World Championship debut continued as he beat an out-of-sorts Ricky Evans 4-2 at to seal his place in round four.
Huddersfield bricklayer Manby, 20, is guaranteed a £60,000 pay-cheque after overcoming his early struggles on the doubles against Evans and now faces European champion Gian van Veen for a place in the quarter-finals.
It was an even contest until Manby levelled the match at 2-2, with Evans suffering a dramatic loss of form.
Manby, who landed just four of his first 30 double attempts, said: "It was frustrating. I should have taken the first set, simple as that.
"I missed doubles, but at first to four there is a lot of time, so I think I recovered well and got my confidence back."
World number 40 Kevin Doets produced an upset as he beat 15th seed Nathan Aspinall 4-3 in a thriller to set up a last-16 tie against 2024 world champion Luke Humphries.
Dutchman Doets hit back from behind three times in a see-saw battle before racing to victory in the deciding set and making it six straight wins against Aspinall.
After being pegged back at 2-2, Aspinall produced a 170-finish to snatch the fifth set only to see Doets hit a 164-checkout to level it back up at 3-3 and maintain his heavy scoring to win the decider 3-0.
Justin Hood eased through to the fourth round on his tournament debut by beating Ryan Meikle 4-1, despite not hitting the same heights as in his previous match.
Hood, who averaged 103 when knocking fifth seed Danny Noppert out in round two, opened up a 3-0 lead before Meikle responded with 146 and 147 finishes to take the fourth set.
Hood will face Josh Rock in the last 16, after the Northern Ireland star rebounded from losing the first set to cruise past Callan Rydz 4-1.
PA contributed to this report
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