Who are Luke Littler’s parents Anthony and Lisa Bates?

DARTS prodigy Luke Littler’s meteoric rise in the world of darts has catapulted him into the spotlight.

Here we take a look at the 16-year-old sensation’s parents Anthony and Lisa Bates.

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Luke Littler with his parents Anthony and Lisa Bates[/caption]

Who are Luke Littler’s Parents?

Luke Littler‘s parents are Anthony and Lisa Bates.

As well as being his parents, Anthony and Lisa are The Nuke’s biggest fans.

They have supported Luke in his darts career since he was in nappies.

What do Anthony and Lisa Bates do?

Luke’s dad Anthony is a taxi driver.

And his mum Lisa is employed at a shop selling scented candles.

Both have a strong work ethic, which they have imparted to their son.

Who is Luke Littler?

Littler was born in Warrington, Cheshire on January 21, 2007 — making him 16 years old.

He is the reigning world youth champion and has hit incredible averages on the Modus Super Series, earning himself a PDC Tour Card for the 2024-25 season.

Speaking about his meteoric rise in August 2023 before this year’s PDC World Darts Championship, Littler said: “I still can’t believe it. I have surprised myself.

“At the start of the year, my ambition was to win one Development Tour title, and I’ve won five.

“I knew I had the ability to beat the best players on the Development Tour, and I’ve beaten quite a few Tour Card holders — Dylan Slevin, Danny Jansen, Lewy Williams, Keane Barry.

“It is unbelievable. Now I’ve got my Tour Card, I can’t wait to prove what I can do on the big stages.”

He added: “This is a massive achievement in my career, I believe it will raise my game because I will be playing against the best players in the world, week in, week out on the ProTour and in qualifying for the European Tour.

“At the moment I don’t practice much. I usually do 30 minutes to an hour a day.

“Some people probably won’t believe it, but if I’m playing against the best, then I’ve got to up my standard.”

He made his PDC debut in March 2023 at the UK Open in Somerset, beating Nick Fullwell 6-0.

In the 2024 PDC World Championships, Luke stunned Ally Pally with one of the greatest debuts in the history of the sport, as he beat Christian Kist in the first round — and then celebrated that victory with a kebab.

His victory saw Littler become the youngest winner of a match at the tournament and record the highest average (106.12) for a player making his debut at Ally Pally.

The teenager went a step further by beating No 20 seed Andrew Gilding to shockingly become one of the FAVOURITES to win the tournament.

And the 16-year-old then blew away Canadian Matt Campbell 4-1, dropping only six legs out of 20 in another blistering display in his debut tournament — before breaking down in tears as he hugged his proud mum.

Littler will now pick up at least £35,000 after winning three matches and becoming the youngest person in the event’s 30-year history to get to the last 16 of the tournament.

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.

On the prospect of facing his hero, Littler said: “Playing Raymond would be unbelievable.

“Win or lose, I’ll still be happy with making the last 16.”

Luke has since become one of the nation’s darlings, with a picture of him on Christmas day opening presents going viral, along with old footage of an incredible trick shot while he is still in NAPPIES.

Are his parents Anthony and Lisa Bates involved in his Darts career?

Luke’s parents certainly helped him get into the sport as a youngster by giving him access to a “proper” dart board — and taking him to the pub.

Discussing his remarkable success with the BBC, Littler said: “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.”

Littler has gained plenty of new supporters this month, but dad Anthony has always been his No1 fan.

Responding to a post from Junior Darts Co on social media, Anthony wrote in 2017: “Watch out for 10-year-old Luke Littler this year!”

And Luke’s mum and dad have been at Ally Pally supporting his astonishing run in the 2024 PDC World Darts Championship.

Speaking after his victory over Campbell, Littler said: “I started crying when I saw my mum in the crowd.

“She was nervous. I saw her with her head in her hands. I said to her: ‘The dream continues.’ She said the same thing.”