By Elliott West
“I’ve got to beat whoever’s in front of me, and just got to go game by game and hopefully, I do win it.”
Luke Littler
Introduction
The height of the PDC darts season has to be when the World Dart Championship comes to Alexandra Palace. It is a bumper Christmas present, full of drama and tension that spills into the New Year. This year, the tournament again hasn’t failed to disappoint, throwing a certain gifted 16-year-old player into the mix by the name of Luke Littler. Luke, who you may ask? Well if you haven’t heard of him by now, where have you been for the last couple of weeks? This darter who looks much older than is with a face full of stubble and a set of mature shoulders on him, has blown away the oche with his fabulous display of darts. A darting prodigy who first played arrows when he was a mere 18 months old and still in nappies, proving himself a natural on a magnetic dart board. He even used the walk-on music of Raymond Van Barneveld and Phil Taylor to master his walk onto a then imaginary stage.
The Darting Journey
Luke who is nicknamed ‘The Nuke’, was born in Runcorn in 2007. His rise to darting fame could be missed in the blink of an eye as it was so rapid. When most children were playing with their toys, Littler was developing his skills as a darts player, playing a full-sized board by the age of five and mastering the height and length when he was eight. A darting journey that has had his parents’ full support and a dedicated management team that has grown around him. A player who has won a string of youth trophies including the JDC Super 16 and the English Open twice.
After a brief spell on the BDO tour between 2019-2020 and the WDF 2019-2023, Littler joined the PDC in 2023 after already getting to the last 64 of the World Masters. A right-hander darter who is always accompanied by his walk-on music of “Greenlight” by Pitbull, Luke plays with 23g Target darts and often celebrates a win with a KFC or a kebab. This current PDC World Youth Champion has created a storm at the Ally Pally this year, sending a shockwave down the journalist pool and his Instagram account into overdrive, rising from 4,000 followers to 23,500. Everyone now wants a selfie or autograph from this talented natural.
All Eyes on Luke
“I was four nil up, I just thought I was one away. But Brendan came back, won the set, then we had a break. I just really wanted to get it over the line”.
Luke Littler
Luke Littler’s display at this year’s World Darts Championship has been breathtaking, sweeping aside a whole host of formidable talent. Luke has already beaten Christian Kist 3-0, Andrew Gilding 3-1, Matt Campbell 4-1, Raymond Van Barneveld 4-1 and Brendan Dolan 5-1 to book his place in this year’s semi-finals. He has a style of play that is cool, and calm and doesn’t flinch under pressure. His last win was sealed with a kiss from his 21-year-old girlfriend Eloise who as well as being a beauty consultant, is also an amateur darts player. A lady who although has been keeping a low profile, is always in the background cheering her man on and is hoping that her employer will give her a day off work for his semi-final clash against Rob Cross.
Luke started this tournament as a 150-1 outsider and has already bagged £100,000 but now has a chance of banking £200,000 as runner-up or £500,000 if he claims the title. He becomes the youngest player to reach a semi-final and even more unbelievable is that he did it on his debut. A dream that just keeps continuing and a player that just keeps giving. Someone who works his magic to the background chanting of ‘there’s only one Luke Littler’. A Warrington player who has proven that hard work and determination pays off. Since writing this piece, Luke played darts from the gods and reached the final, beating Rob Cross 6-2! He now faces Luke Humphries in the final.
