10 months ago
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LUKE LITTLER has been issued a warning by Luke Humphries – keep practising or it will “come back to bite him”.
The two stars meet again in the Premier League in Cardiff on Thursday.
Kelly Deckers / PDCThat will be a rematch of the world championship final from January 3 when Humphries, 28, beat the then 16-year-old 7-4 at Ally Pally to be crowned world champion.
‘Luke the Nuke’ picked up £200,000 after losing that before he won the Bahrain Masters and pocketed another £20,000 for beating Michael van Gerwen in the final.
Littler returned to Warrington for a low-key 17th birthday celebration and then beat Humphries in the semi-finals of the Dutch Masters but suffered a loss to MVG in the final.
However, despite his dramatic rise to stardom, Humphries has insisted that the youngster should not neglect his practice after Littler revealed he had not played outside of tournaments since the world final.
The man dubbed Cool Hand Luke told Sky Sports: “I wasn’t surprised by his performance but I was surprised he hadn’t practised since the world final.
“You have to be careful in this game to put in enough effort. If you feel like you have got to the point in your game where you are great and you are not practising, it will come back to bite you.
“It is important he stays dedicated and practises hard because that is a point in the game where you can lose yourself.”
Humphries added: “I know players who have done that, Michael Smith has openly admitted he didn’t practise all last year then all of a sudden he lost his form.
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“So, I feel like that is a massive point in your game you have to focus on.
“But he had a lot of tough performances, Gezzy [Gerwyn Price] and Michael didn’t turn up against him and allowed him to go on.
“But that is the type of player he is, if you don’t put pressure on him, he will beat you so I wasn’t shocked at all.
“He is part of the elite and rightly so.”
LUKE LITTLER'S DRAMATIC FEW WEEKS
The darts sensation has enjoyed an epic rise to superstardom in just a matter of days:
2023
Dec 20 – The then 16-year-old hit the headlines with a 3-0 win over Christian Kist on his Ally Pally debut.
Dec 27 – After beating Andrew Gilding, he beat Matt Campbell 4-1 to become the youngest player to ever reach the last 16 of the worlds.
Dec 30 – Beats his own idol and five-time champ Raymond van Barneveld to reach the quarters.
2024
Jan 2 – After dispatching Brendan Dolan in the last-eight, he produced an average of 106.05 against Rob Cross as he cruised past him in the semi.
Jan 3 – Denied a fairytale victory at the World Darts Championship after losing 7-4 to Luke Humphries in the final, although he pockets £200,000 as runner-up.
Jan 5 – Littler is selected as part of the lucrative eight-man Premier League tournament.
Jan 19 – Wins the Bahrain Masters after beating three-time PDC world champion Michael van Gerwen to claim the £20,000 pot.
Jan 21 – Celebrates turning 17 with a low-key birthday back home in Warrington
Jan 27 – Gained revenge on Humphries and beat him 6-5 to reach the semi-finals of the Ditch Masters.
Jan 28 – Van Gerwen denied Littler a second successive World Series title by defeating him in the Dutch Darts Masters final.
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