Live score and updates as Luke ‘The Nuke’ Littler, 16, takes on Brendan Dolan for a place in the semi-finals and a £100,000 pay-day

Cross hits 180 and then 177 to leave himself on a nine-darter!

He then hits treble 18 but misses the follow-up. Seven perfect darts, so close!

Not to worry, he comes back to take out 67 and moves ahead in the third set.

Dobey starts the leg with a 180 and has the crowd briefly excited when his fourth dart finds the treble 20 as well, but his next dart falls short.

He leaves himself on 128 after nine darts, but then has a sloppy visit and Cross has a chance at 90, but his own effort is poor as he fails to even get a dart at the bull.

Dobey returns but misses two darts at double 16, and Cross mops up 48 to level the set.

Dobey just finding his rhythm now has he finds two trebles in each of his first three visits after the break.

Cross puts him under a little pressure, but for the third time Dobey nails double 10 to take the first leg of the second set.

Neither player at their best in that first set, but Dobey just started to find his range by hitting 180s in the final two legs and that was enough to give him the set.

Dobey starts the leg on his own throw poorly again, but then hits his second 180 to get back into the leg.

Cross hits back-to-back 140s though to get a shot at 121. He fails to get the checkout, leaving Dobey a chance at 75, but his final dart at double 20 goes high.

Cross then misses double 16, and Dobey comes back to take out double 10 again with his second dart to take the opening set.

Dobey hits the first 180 of the match to leave himself 100 as he senses another break of throw.

Dobey hits treble 20, but his dart at tops is just low. No matter, though, as he switches to double 10 to take the leg.

A slack start to the leg from Dobey as he fails to hit a treble with his first 11 darts.

That allows Cross to get his nose in front as he gets down to a finish first by leaving himself 167. He nails treble 19 and treble 20 to leave the bullseye, but he misses his target by a distance.

Dobey is nowhere, though, and Cross comes back to hit double top and level the set.

Cross starts with the darts but only hits 42 with his first three.

Dobey then nails a 140 to pile on the pressure but Cross replies in kind and then hits 125 to get down to a finish.

He needs 111, but misses a dart at double 20 to take the leg. Dobey punishes him by taking out 89 to break the throw.

And here comes Rob Cross with ‘Feeling Hot’ blasting around the Palace.

It’s a red-hot atmosphere at the Ally Pally and the action will be getting underway in just a few moments…

Dobey makes his way to the Ally Pally stage to the tune of ‘Let’s get ready to rumble’.

He’s ready to fight for his place in the semi-finals.

Chisnall had a more comfortable passage through to the last eight by beating Daryl Gurney 4-2 on Saturday afternoon.

Can he upset the odds to beat Humphries later tonight?

Luke Humphries has been the form player in the world in recent months, but needed a sudden-death leg to beat Joe Cullen on Saturday.

He will be back for his quarter-final this evening against Dave Chisnall.

We are around 10 minutes away from getting underway. This promises to be a great afternoon of action at Ally Pally.

Michael van Gerwen has won the World Championship three times, and Rob Cross has won it once, but none of the other six players have lifted the title.

Will we get a new name on the Sid Waddell Trophy this year, or will Van Gerwen or Cross rule the world again?

It has not all been plain sailing for Littler over the past fortnight as he issued an apology on social media on Friday after being pictured holding The Sun newspaper.

Littler hails from Warrington – a town between Liverpool and Manchester – and The Sun have received fierce criticism from the people of Liverpool over the years for their coverage of the Hillsborough Disaster in 1989.

Littler has breezed through the tournament so far but will have his work cut out today against the experienced Dolan.

The Northern Irishman has already beaten former world champions Gerwynn Price and Gary Anderson, and would love nothing more than to spoil the Littler party this afternoon.

Littler has become an overnight star and it seems everyone wants to meet him.

He sat alongside huge darts fan James Maddison to watch Tottenham beat Bournemouth yesterday, as he continues to remain relaxed ahead of his quarter-final clash with Dolan.

Cross and Dobey should take to the stage at around about 12.45pm.

Having made the last eight for the first time since winning the tournament six years ago, Cross has declared himself ‘ready to go’ this afternoon in a post to fans on X.

Chris Dobey thrashed defending champion Michael Smith 4-0 in the last 16 and will fancy his chances against Cross today.

Dobey is in arguably the form of his life, and has shown signs that he could go all the way after falling at the quarter-final hurdle last year.

Littler will take centre stage later this afternoon, but first up we will see 2018 champion Rob Cross in action.

Cross popped into Mail Sport’s offices last month to raise awareness for Paddy Power’s pledge to donate £1,000 to Prostate Cancer UK for every 180 hit at this year’s tournament, and he also answered your quickfire questions…

Littler was an unknown quantity just over two weeks ago but has quickly become a houshold name.

He has been preparing for this moment for years, though, and Mail Sport has taken a look at his rise to the top.

Littler was a 150/1 underdog to win the World Championship before the tournament got underway but he is now just three games away from becoming the youngest ever champion.

Having seen off five-time champion Raymond van Barneveld on Saturday, Littler is starting to dream that this could be his year.

All four quarter-finals will be played today, with two in the afternoon session followed by two in the evening.

We will start with an all-English affair between Rob Cross and Chris Dobey, before Littler takes to the oche to face Northern Ireland’s Brendan Dolan.

Tonight’s action will begin with three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen against Scott Williams followed by Luke Humphries taking on Dave Chisnall.

Happy New Year! It’s quarter-final day at the World Darts Championship and 16-year-old sensation Luke Littler is looking to book his place in the last four.

Can he do it? Stay tuned to find out!