1 week ago
13
LUKE LITTLER has lifted the lid on his preparation for the World Darts Championship.
Littler, 17, stormed to an unexpected showing in the final on his Ally Pally debut at last year’s competition.
PA
PAHowever, one year on he has gone from an unknown to one of the faces of the sport and now ranks No.4 in the world after scoring a remarkable 10 darts titles.
The Nuke was beaten by World No.1 Luke Humphries last year, but this time Littler wants to go one better and land the full prize to become world champion.
Littler’s first match will see him take on the winner of Ryan Meikle and Fallon Sherrock on December 21.
Speaking to The Telegraph, he has revealed how he is preparing for the competition, and it seems he has not let fame change what he enjoys in life.
He said: “A lot of sleep, practice, Xbox, chill out. An hour to an-hour-and-a-half [a day] on the board.
“Keep the arm loose. [But] mostly just chilling… [see] some mates… go out with them sometimes, otherwise just chilling in my bedroom on my own, playing my game, on my phone.”
Littler also revealed the advice that 16-time world champion (14 PDC) Phil Taylor told him after they went for a meal together.
He said: “As soon as he walked in, me and my mum were, ‘What is going on?’ Sat down having a meal with Phil Taylor!
BEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERS
“It was good. He was telling me some of the stories on tour, [about] some of the players.
“He was saying, ‘Just keep yourself to yourself.
“The least you interact with people, the harder it is for them. Don’t need to talk to anyone’.”
Following the meal, Taylor himself said he was struck by Littler’s humility and disinterest in money and confessed the Warrington-teen had a chance to eclipse his world record.
Taylor said: “He’s got age on his side, he’s got the ability.
“He just plays his game. He’s quiet as a mouse. Lovely company. Not motivated by prize money.
“He’s more interested in looking after his mother and father.”
Manchester United fan Littler has also received advice from one of his icons, Sir Alex Ferguson, but admitted he struggled to understand the legendary Scot.
What he did manage to pick up of their conversation saw Littler reveal Ferguson had told him to, “Stick at it.”
Away from the oche Littler has also landed plenty of advertising deals.
He announced his most recent one with his beloved games console Xbox on Wednesday, giving fans the chance to win prizes every time he scores a 180.
Littler’s stunning year has also seen him nominated for BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award, meaning he could become the first darts player to win the award.
List of all-time Darts World Champions
BELOW is a list of Darts world champions by year.
The list does not include winners from the pre-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) era or BDO world champions.
That means Raymond van Barneveld, for example, is only listed once – Barney also won four BDO titles – and none of Eric Bristow’s five BDO titles are included.
- 1994 – Dennis Priestley
- 1995 – Phil Taylor
- 1996 – Phil Taylor (2)
- 1997 – Phil Taylor (3)
- 1998 – Phil Taylor (4)
- 1999 – Phil Taylor (5)
- 2000 – Phil Taylor (6)
- 2001 – Phil Taylor (7)
- 2002 – Phil Taylor (8)
- 2003 – John Part
- 2004 – Phil Taylor (9)
- 2005 – Phil Taylor (10)
- 2006 – Phil Taylor (11)
- 2007 – Raymond van Barneveld
- 2008 – John Part (2)
- 2009 – Phil Taylor (12)
- 2010 – Phil Taylor (13)
- 2011 – Adrian Lewis
- 2012 – Adrian Lewis (2)
- 2013 – Phil Taylor (14)
- 2014 – Michael van Gerwen
- 2015 – Gary Anderson
- 2016 – Gary Anderson (2)
- 2017 – Michael van Gerwen (2)
- 2018 – Rob Cross
- 2019 – Michael van Gerwen (3)
- 2020 – Peter Wright
- 2021 – Gerwyn Price
- 2022 – Peter Wright (2)
- 2023 – Michael Smith
- 2024 – Luke Humphries
Most World Titles
- 14 – Phil Taylor
- 3 – Michael van Gerwen
- 2 – John Part, Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright
- 1 – Dennis Priestley, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Luke Humphries
Bengali (BD) · 
English (US) ·