Who is teenage prodigy Luke Littler? He started hitting targets in a nappy
The darts world has the privilege of getting to know a unique talent who is making a name for himself at an early age. Just as Martina Hingis won a Grand Slam title at the age of 15 and Pele led Brazil to the 1958 World Cup title at the age of 17, the teenager from Warrington is close to becoming an unforgettable icon of the pub sport that has been a hit around Christmas for decades.
The first darts in a nappy
While most darts players in today's elite field have been working their way to the top for years, Littler took it easy. His parents bought him a small target and darts as a toy when he was two years old. A video of him, still in his nappy, sovereignly hitting the board in his distinctive style went viral. Then at seven, he started throwing at an honest-to-goodness, grown-up target.
Matadors like Dave Chisnall, Stephen Bunting and the reigning world champion Michael Smith grew up in the conurbation of St Helens, between Liverpool and Manchester. Obviously, talent is either innate here or you can continually improve thanks to frequent matches against the best.
It was there, due to the popularity of darts, that enthusiast Karl Holden founded his academy and Littler was one of his students.
"We hold tournaments there every Monday night, entry costs £2 and different age groups play. I remember when Luke first went there. He was 10 years old, but word quickly got around the room about how special the boy was. Soon he was winning games against older players," the academy founder recalled in an interview with the Guardian.
He also added that he knows why Luke can play so well. "Look at his eyes. He's focused. When he gets to the target, he's always thinking and figuring out the best combination to play," Holden said of Littler.
The centre of attention
While this year's championship featured some incredible games, including Rob Cross' breathtaking quarter-final turnaround from 4-0 down to 5-4 up, or the insane match between Luke Humphries and Joe Cullen that experts called the greatest drama in history, the glory goes to the 16-year-old superstar.
He looks confident on the most famous darts stage, not only getting 180s but hitting all the combinations he wants on triples. If hardly anyone knew about him last year, now the newspapers are full of him and he feels he is becoming a celebrity himself.
"I've been to Arsenal, I've been to Tottenham. People come to see me. I don't know them, but they know me. It's nice, I take pictures with everyone," he says, enjoying his moment of fame. Arsenal players Declan Rice and Aaron Ramsdale also took a photo with him. And the tabloids even tracked down that he is dating a woman five years his senior called Eloise, who he met while playing FIFA. She had to lock her Instagram profile after her boyfriend's success.
In the early days of the championship, the crowd at Alexandra Palace may have shouted "you have to go to school in the morning" at him, but Littler gradually earned more and more respect. He has already earned £100,000 by reaching the semi-finals and is certainly not without chances to add more to his account. His potential title can be backed at odds of 3/1.
By the way, the references to the school were not out of place. Luke decided to drop out of school for his darts career. So far, so good.
If the darts experts were comparing the start of his career to the early days of phenom Michael van Gerwen, Littler's numbers are better.
Blessings from a legend
England has a new idol. A player so young has never made it to the semi-finals of a World Championship. And he did it so convincingly. In five consecutive matches, he's lost just four sets... "It's an incredible feeling. I never thought I would be this far in on my debut," he admitted after his triumph over Brendan Dolan. "The way I'm playing here, it's going to be difficult to stop me. It's just going to be about what I show. I know I have a good chance to go all the way to the top," he admitted.
A round earlier, he had knocked out 2007 world champion Raymond van Barneveld, whom he referred to as his idol. The paradox of the situation was that he was born just 20 days after "Barnie" had fought one of the most memorable battles in world championship history with Phil Taylor. This time, Dutch champion Van Barneveld was up against a rising star and lost 5-1.
Character shaped by kebabs
Whatever the outcome, Littler's performance this year is a huge advertisement for the darts world. A new face has arrived, and he is presenting himself in a very confident manner.
Though, of course, some will find negatives in his persona - Luke is only 16 years old, but many pundits comment on how he looks quite a bit older.
He also makes no secret of his love for kebabs and in an interview he admitted that his daily routine is not the healthiest, in part due to his lack of school: "I wake up in the morning, play on my XBOX, have a meal, practice on the target in the afternoon, eat again and go to sleep."
But after the end of this year's World Championship, he's sure to face big changes and will have to adapt. He is already a public figure, and entering the world of celebrity brings a lot of tricky things along with financial income.