Scott Williams has issued an apology after sparking controversy over his ‘genuinely stupid’ World War and World Cup comments on stage at the World Darts Championship.
Williams joked about England winning ‘two World Wars and one World Cup’ following his tense third-round win over German player Martin Schindler earlier this week. ‘Shaggy’ came under fire for his remarks during his on-stage interview on Sky Sports and has now issued an apology.
“I was advised to come off social media, just X, what I said in the last interview on stage was stupid, genuinely stupid. The guys from Germany know I love Germany,” he said. “My deepest apologies to anyone who took offence, I have had a lot of messages from people who haven’t taken offence, but that has gone now and I am looking forward to Monday.”
Williams did not allow the controversy to thwart his performances though, and advanced to his first-ever quarter-final at the Alexandra Palace with a 4-1 demolition job over 10th seed Damon Heta on Saturday afternoon.
The 33-year-old came into the match as the underdog but blew his Australian contemporary away with a ruthless performance, which included a 170 checkout. The victory has set up a mouthwatering last-eight clash with one of the tournament’s favourites Michael van Gerwen.
When told he would be playing him next, Williams said: “That is very good. I can’t say too much because I will get myself in trouble. “Michael? Michael, yeah I have heard of him. I am really looking forward to it, he is a completely different gravy to everyone else in the competition. I am just going to go up there and throw darts and if they go in they go in.”
16-year-old darts sensation Luke Littler will also be joining him in the quarter-finals after stunning his hero Raymond van Barneveld.
“Unbelievable,” exclaimed after the match. “My average has shown it, my double percentage has shown it – I don’t know what to say. He (Van Barneveld) said, ‘you can go all the way, I hope you can go all the way’. I said, ‘thank you.’ He’s a true gentleman and I respect Raymond. I fancy myself [to win the whole thing], I do fancy myself. Let’s just focus on Brendan.”
Littler takes on Brendan Dolan next while Dave Chisnall faces Luke Humphries and Rob Cross goes head-to-head with Chris Dobey in the other quarter-final ties.
