World Darts Championship: Luke Littler says he senses ‘tension’ between jealous rivals | News darts
Luke Littler said he can sense the “tension” among his rivals in the face of his growing success as he continues his quest for a first World Darts Championship crown.
Littler emerged as one of the faces of the sport through a meteoric rise that saw him finish runner-up on debut at the Ally Pally before winning the Premier League, the World Series of Darts Final and the Grand Slam of Darts.
He also recently finished runner-up for the BBC’s Sports Person of the Year behind Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson, such was his impact on the prominence of darts in 2024.
Is the darts world jealous of the 17-year-old?
“I don’t know. I’d probably say some players show it, mostly on the pro tour,” Littler said.
“But I saw Scott Williams’ interview – he’s getting sponsorship opportunities, people are looking for him because of me. So it’s good to see what I’ve done, especially for the players and any sponsors I can get.”
Littler survived an epic event on Monday night to beat Ryan Joyce 4-3 to punch his ticket to the quarter-finals as he looks to go one better than last year’s loss to Luke Humphries in the final.
He is now the highest seeded player remaining in a competition he arrived with heightened expectations as one of the favorites to win the title. By now he can afford to smile if he ever hears any remark from the side.
“Definitely not for my face,” Littler added. “Not as soon as I walk in, but whenever I practice, I just feel that tension. And I just laugh about it.”
Littler faces Nathan Aspinall in the quarter-finals, who beat Ricardo Pietreczko 4-0 with an average of 94.28 after playing 10 straight legs.
“It’s going to be tough,” Littler said. “But I won most of them. Nathan only got one win over me. It’s good to win over Nathan. But this is the last eight of the World Championship and anyone can win on the day.”
Littler admitted he was unlikely to speak to Aspinall during construction, stressing the importance of putting the friendship aside.
“Probably not. We’ll just keep to ourselves,” he said. “Obviously, he will celebrate the New Year with his family and his two little girls, and I will obviously celebrate with my mom and dad.
“You just have to go into every game like you’re playing against your best teammate or someone you really don’t like. You just have to beat what’s in front of you.”
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