Home Editor Picks Darts duo relive wins over Ally Pally hero Luke Littler – EXCLUSIVE

Darts duo relive wins over Ally Pally hero Luke Littler – EXCLUSIVE

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Darts duo relive wins over Ally Pally hero Luke Littler - EXCLUSIVE


Beating will now be a feather in the cap of any player after his mesmerising run to the final. Luke Humphries can already boast about having done so following his impressive 7-4 win at the Alexandra Palace on Wednesday, and Express Sport consults two other professionals who have also tasted victory against ‘The Nuke’.

Viewers could hardly believe the skill and poise on show when 16-year-old Littler first took to the Ally Pally stage, averaging 106 as he demolished Christian Kist in the first round. But his prodigious talent has been an open secret in darting circles for many years, as former PDC tour card holder Andy Boulton points out.

“Darts players have known about Luke even since the age of about 12,” he told Express Sport. “We all knew he had the game in him, but to take it onto the big stage, and how he coped with the attention – he seems to have taken everything in his stride. It’s as if he’s played the game for 20 years.”

Littler’s defences haven’t always been impenetrable, though. He established himself as a force to be reckoned with on the World Darts Federation (WDF) tour last year, where Boulton got the better of him on more than one occasion. But the air of confidence the youngster brought on stage became lodged in the 50-year-old’s memory.

“He just came across as a quiet, unassuming 16-year-old who doesn’t say much. It was probably quite an intimidating situation [for him],” he continued. “But once he gets on the stage, I don’t know what happens. It’s like another personality almost, like a superhero.

“He’s always had a little bit of arrogance about him. Like when he hit the two treble 20s [against Brendan Dolan], then turned around and asked the crowd whether he should go for the bullseye [to complete the 170 finish] – he did that in one of the [MODUS] Super Series finals.

“We play in front of a crowd, not as big as in the world championship, and he popped it in the bullseye that time. When you get up on the stage you’ve got to enjoy being there otherwise it’s pointless.”

American darts star Danny Lauby Jr. has twice appeared at the World Championships and joins Littler in being a Target Darts sponsor. He is similarly impressed with the way the teenager has handled the weight of expectation over the past three weeks.

“I have a lot of admiration for the way he’s coped with it because he’s 16. I don’t know if you remember when you were 16? Or any adult remembers when they were 16? It almost feels unfair to put that much pressure on a 16-year-old before they’ve even lived or made mistakes or done things we’ve all done when we were 16 – even the best of us.”

Like Boulton, Lauby Jr. managed to get the best of Littler during a WDF clash last year, but the 31-year-old believes that not many players will be lucky enough to pull off the same scalp as he grows in confidence and experience.

“I’ve only played him twice, I believe,” he explained. “He beat me in the first game and I beat him the next day so we’re 1-1 at this point in time. I feel pretty fortunate to get a win against Luke because there aren’t many people on this earth who can say that.

“People are people, things happen and you miss sometimes. I just ended up hitting my shots. Timely darts, it’s all about timely darts. He didn’t score as best as he could, I was just solid and got over the line in that particular match.”

Question marks will remain over whether Littler could be a one-hit wonder – at least until he competes in this year’s lucrative Premier League Darts. But Lauby Jr. has no doubts about whether the 16-year-old has what it takes to remain on the big stage for decades to come, adding: “His fundamentals are on par with the best in the world – he’s one of them now.”



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