4 months ago
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LUKE LITTLER is on course to earn the biggest single payday of his fledging career after storming into the last 16 of the PDC World Darts Championship.
Luke the Nuke has captured the imagination of the sporting public over the past week for his incredibly mature exploits on the Ally Pally stage.
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GettyAnd the 16-year-old blew away Canadian Matt Campbell 4-1, dropping only six legs out of 20 in another blistering display in his debut tournament.
Warrington teen Littler will pick up £35,000 for winning three matches and becoming the youngest person in the event’s 30-year history to get this far.
Should he now overcome Jim Williams or his hero Raymond van Barneveld on Saturday, then he will be in the last eight, which increases the prize money to £50,000.
But after his title odds have tumbled from 150-1 to 10-1, it will take something special to stop him as he seriously eyes the £500,000 jackpot on Tuesday January 3.
These two darts stars had rather similar Christmas Days as they spent it with their nearest and dearest – albeit separated by 3,500 miles.
Littler was snapped by his mum sitting in front of the Christmas tree opening his presents on Monday, 45 minutes after the King’s Speech, before jumping on his Xbox.
Meanwhile, Campbell was in the Canadian city of Hamilton with his wife and kids.
The world No.57 had decided to leave the UK a week ago after his second-round win over James Wade and then return back on Boxing Day because he could not bear the thought of being on his own.
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Even if, of course, the mad dash would be detrimental to his chances of progressing.
And Campbell’s accuracy was missing in the first set as he failed to nail any of his five double attempts and averaged a woeful 79.12.
In contrast, Littler was deadlier with his double shots and he was 14 points better with his averages after the opening three legs, two of which were breaks of throw.
Littler’s mum Lisa had missed his first and second-round ties due to work commitments but she was here this time in the VIP seats.
How proud she must have been as her son did a number on Campbell, winning the next three legs in a row to take a two-sets lead, firing over a superb 130 checkout.
As his opponents usually head backstage for something strong to wet their throats, Littler has a tendency to remain on stage and continue to practice his throws.
It is an excellent way to stay fresh and settled despite the interruption of the TV advertisement breaks.
Though he lost his way at the start of the third set, Littler benefited from FOUR missed set darts by Campbell as he came from two legs down to prevail 3-2.
This saw him move 3-0 up in the best of seven sets and in set four he had a shot at the match but he was fractionally wide of the Bullseye.
That allowed Campbell in and the part-time welder took out Shanghai 120 to at least put a set on the board.
Anyone thinking that the comeback from our North American friend was on would have been put in their place when Littler produced a sensational 164 – Treble 19, Treble 19 and then the Bullseye in set five.
A magnificent 11-darter 100 was then followed with double tops which wrapped up a superb victory.
For Littler, this is the most lucrative tournament he has ever been involved with – his previous highest individual payday had been £27,500 during the Modus Super Series in Portsmouth.
Each win he gets in North London is celebrated with a mayo-rich kebab with his manager and family and he will tuck into his doner with special delight tonight.
Littler began playing darts aged just 18 months with a video of the prodigy playing in his nappies going viral on social media.
He said of his early days: “By the age of four I got on to the proper board. From 18 months on I have been non-stop.
“When we moved to Warrington when I was eight or nine we started going out to pubs four to five times a week.”
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