Luke Littler, 16-year-old darts phenomenon, is heading to the final of the PDC World Championship
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England's latest sporting sensation is a 16-year-old who is on the verge of winning arguably the world's most prestigious darts tournament on his first try.
Luke Littler defeated another seasoned veteran in a semi-final match at the Professional Darts Corporation World Darts Championship on Tuesday. If he wins Wednesday's final against Luke Humphries – a 28-year-old Brit whose own semi-final victory made him the new top player – Littler will have translated his success at the junior level into sudden dominance at the top flight of his sport in the way that has already drawn comparisons to Tiger Woods.
“It's crazy to think I'm going to be in a World Cup final on my debut,” Littler told Sky Sports after Tuesday's 6-2 win over 33-year-old Rob Cross. “I was happy to win a game, but I did it – I’m close to making it to the end.”
Cross, who won the tournament in 2018, became the first opponent in six rounds of the event to win more than one set against Littler. (The format grows from best-of-five sets in the first two rounds to best-of-13 in the final.) Cross' three-dart average of 102.77 in the semifinals was a good mark in a sport that in which top players tend to score He was between 95 and 99, but was blown away by Littler's average of 106.05.
It was the fourth time in the tournament that Littler surpassed 100 and the third time he surpassed 105, including in a 4-1 win over Raymond van Barneveld, a 56-year-old Dutchman who is his youngest of five world championship victories lasted three weeks before Littler was born.
“He’s just great,” Cross said of Littler before their match. “I've never seen such talent really shine through in darts, and the fact that he can handle it like that without really getting involved in anything is beyond his years of experience because he's so professional.”
According to ITV, Littler began playing professionally at the age of 12. He recently told the ` that he started playing magnetic darts when he was 18 months old, got “a proper board” when he was 4, and started playing in pubs “four to five times a week” around the age of 8.
It will be over a year before Littler, whose hairline and thick stubble belies the fact that he doesn't turn 17 until later this month, will be able to drink in licensed premises in Britain in most cases. But he pointed to the advantage that sometimes gives a sport that, even at its highest level, doesn't stray far from the bar culture that defines it.
“Of course I don't drink,” Littler said recently (via the `), “so that's a massive advantage over these professionals who drink. “They wake up in the morning with sore heads and I'm fine.”
If at least some of darts' “professionals” are known to drink a pint, two or three – although not during competition, according to PDC rules – then World Cup fans can put those numbers to shame. The PDC's top event takes place around the holidays in London's venerable Alexandria Palace and offers a festive atmosphere. While sitting at tables laden with mugs of beer and cider, contestants are known to wear colorful costumes, shout the lyrics to popular songs, and sing for their favorite competitors.
Littler said he often heard, “You have school in the morning.”
Littler comes from Warrington, a town in northwest England between Liverpool and Manchester. He reportedly completed his General Certificate of Secondary Education last summer. After gaining the national qualification for school leavers at the age of 16, he was able to devote himself fully to darts. A winner of numerous youth events, including the last two JDC World Championships, Littler competed in four senior events on the PDC's main circuit (according to the `) before making his World Championships debut.
At least in the short term, financing his dream of a professional career will not be a problem. To advance to the finals, Littler is guaranteed a minimum payout of about $253,000 and can earn about $631,000 with a win. He can also expect to parlay his skyrocketing fame in Britain into more lucrative endorsement and appearance fees.
As Littler's unprecedented success in the tournament – he became the youngest to win a match last month and is expected to be the youngest to compete in the final by more than four years – has made headlines in his home country, some of the biggest names in Darts warned that teenagers should fall victim to too much too soon.
Before the tournament, 16-time world champion Phil Taylor predicted that Littler “will be one of the best players of all time”: “He is the best.” [16-year-old] player I have ever seen in my life. We'll see what happens in the next five years when his hormones change, he's made pennies and of course he wants to have fun when you're 16, 17, 18. The boy could become a millionaire, but then you have to stick with it and commit, and that will be a little difficult for the boy.”
Barry Hearn, a sports promoter whose Matchroom company owns the PDC, recently told the Telegraph that Littler's family and his management team need to help the youngster “find the right balance where they still live a semi-normal life.”
“You can't just look at the money,” said Hearn, 75, “because that comes automatically if you're good enough.” … If I were managing him, I would raise his fee to an astronomical amount, and then According to the laws of supply and demand, this would reduce the chance of it burning out. The biggest task for him will be actually checking his diary.”
Meanwhile, Hearn is aware of the attention Littler's precocious talent is bringing to darts.
“The organizers are getting carried away, but I’m getting carried away because it’s a quantum moment for the sport,” he said. “This is a Boris Becker moment. This is a Tiger Woods moment.”
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