Pro Shots / Zuma PressLuke Littler wins the Premier League in his first year at the highest level
NOS Sport•vandaag, 06:04
Who is Britain’s most Googled athlete of 2024? It is not footballer Jude Bellingham or gymnast Simone Biles, but darts player Luke Littler.
A year ago, hardly anyone knew him. The very young Englishman had his big breakthrough at the World Cup, where he narrowly missed out on winning the world title as a 16-year-old.
Big favourite
A year later he is back in ‘Ally Pally’, the famous hall in North London. In the first round he had a bye, in the second round Littler will play against Ryan Meikle on Saturday. The now 17-year-old Littler starts the World Cup as a big favorite. How has his life changed in the past twelve months?
Quite a bit, is the short answer. There is talk of a ‘Littlermania’ in England and Littler is called the ‘Tiger Woods of darts’ because he is almost bigger than the sport itself.
GettyLando Norris and Luke Littler at the England F1 Grand Prix
Last year, Littler ‘suddenly’ reached the final of the World Championship, which he lost to Luke Humphries. Since then he has played all the major tournaments of the PDC darts association.
In his first season at the highest level, Littler won no fewer than ten titles, including the Grand Slam of Darts and the Premier League Darts, a series of tournaments with the eight best darts players of the moment.
He collected almost 750,000 euros in prize money in his first year. As a result, he starts the World Cup as number four in the world rankings, which is determined on the basis of the prize money earned over the past two years.
Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith and world number one Humphries are still above Littler. They are the only ones who made more money in two years than Littler did in one year.
From 4,000 to 1.3 million followers
“Littlermania is everywhere,” says PDC chairman Barry Hearn at the BBC about the hype surrounding the young darts player. This time last year, Littler had about 4,000 followers on Instagram. And now? 1.3 million.
For commercial companies he is a goldmine: Littler is sponsored by, among others, a grain company, a train company and a clothing line. This year he was also invited as a guest of honor at the Grand Prix in Silverstone, he was followed for a documentary about top darts players and he was nominated by the BBC for Sports Personality of the Year. He missed out on that title, but did win in the youth category.
Getty ImagesLittler as guest of honor at the British GP with Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez
Littler is a welcome guest at talk shows, for example he was on the British one The Jonathan Ross Show and threw a dart against a team that included actress Millie Bobby Brown, singer Raye and comedian Rob Beckett. And to be clear: Littler won against the three celebrities.
Then you are seventeen years old and you have millions in your youth bank account. What should you do with that now?
Indoor swimming pool
The Littler family recently moved to a five-bedroom villa with an indoor pool in the English town of Warrington. There is also a gym and a cinema screen.
‘The Nuke’ dropped out of school and focused entirely on sports. Isn’t that a bit much for a boy who hasn’t even grown up yet?
Yes, says PDC boss Matthew Porter, and so the darts association is keeping a close eye on him. Porter tells Sky Sports that the focus is on the short term: “It’s mainly about what happens this month, so that he also has a chance to rest from playing darts.” And so that he also has time to just be young.
That seems to be going well; Littler is still in good form. A month ago he won the Grand Slam of Darts. A week later he reached the final of the Players Championship Finals. He lost to Humphries, whom he often meets in important matches.
Although, according to experts, we should not celebrate too early. He is doing well and expectations are high, but he does not yet have a world title in his pocket. And the other Luke (Humphries) also throws very well.
Former darts player and analyst Co Stompé at the radio program Along the Line and Surrounding Areas: “They have now played two important finals against each other and Humphries has won them both. They will probably meet in the semi-final of the World Cup.”
Jonathan Brady – PA Images
“That will be a clash, everyone is looking forward to it.” says Stompé. “It could go either way.” PDC president Hearn agrees: “Humphries is a great player who will last for years to come. And Littler is the Tiger Woods of darts.”
If Littler wins the World Cup, he will become the youngest world champion ever. That honorary title now belongs to Michael van Gerwen, who was 24 when he won his first world title.
Littler: “I still have seven years. I’m going to do everything I can, because it would mean a lot to win this title as the youngest.”
