It didn’t take long for the first parallels to be drawn between Luke Littler and Lionel Messi. Super talent, child prodigy, whiz kid: When young athletes amaze on the biggest stage in their sport, the superlatives are usually not far away. But there are a few differences between Argentina’s football icon and the English darts professional.
While Messi only made his debut in the sky blue national jersey at the age of 18 and only played a role as a joker at his first World Cup at 19, Littler has already become the outshining face of his sport at the age of 17. If things go according to plan for “The Nuke” (the atomic bomb), as he is called, in the next eight days, he will become world champion before he comes of age.
“Darts has gone global”
Before the World Cup continues in London, where only one German will be represented after Christmas in Ricardo Pietreczko, there is only one topic around Alexandra Palace: Littler and his hunt for the Sid Waddell Trophy, which weighs around 23 kilograms would be accompanied by a check for 500,000 pounds (around 600,000 euros).
“Darts has become global, that’s crazy. I’m happy to have contributed to it, but there are also 127 other tour card holders,” said Littler in all modesty. The truth is: The young Englishman not only outshone all rivals in his sport, but also created a real hype for the trend sport that was booming around the turn of the year. Discs are sold out, darts boss Barry Hearn is already talking about “Littler Mania”.
Littler in prime time
Although the world association PDC is not known for its particular modesty, in Littler’s case many superlatives really apply. The vice world champion has risen from talent to one of the best-known Brits in just one year. So it’s only logical that the PDC schedules its biggest draw on Saturday evening (10.30 p.m.) at the best time for the third round game against Ian White.
On the island in 2024, Littler’s name was googled more often than that of football superstars Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, who reached the European Championship final in Berlin with the Three Lions. The only people Brits were more interested in on the global search engine than Littler were: Princess Kate and US President-elect Donald Trump.
What does all this do to someone who is actually still young? Littler’s World Cup appearance at Alexandra Palace showed this quite impressively. The 17-year-old seemed nervous at first, then played outstandingly, but the safe 3-1 win against compatriot Ryan Meikle quickly became a minor matter. Because Littler abruptly stopped the winner’s interview afterwards – on the largest darts stage in the world he seemed overwhelmed by the glaring focus on himself.
Lukes showdown in the semifinals?
“It’s probably the first and biggest time that the pressure has hit me,” said Littler, who stormed cheekily and carefree into the World Cup final last year, where he had to admit defeat to dominator Luke Humphries. This time there could be a showdown between the two Lukes in the semi-finals on January 2nd. The two Englishmen and the Dutch star Michael van Gerwen are considered the only real contenders for the title.
The biggest players in the scene are enthusiastic about Littler. “He’s the best teenager I’ve ever seen in my life,” said 16-time world champion Phil Taylor about his compatriot. Littler is said to have been throwing darts in diapers when he was just 18 months old. His great idol was the Dutchman Raymond van Barneveld. When it comes to PDC World Championship trophies, Littler could be level with Barney as early as next week.
