Luke Littler: Barry Hearn says teenage darts star can become multiple world champion | Darts News

Promoter Barry Hearn says Luke Littler has transformed darts “from a sport to a mass phenomenon”, but the teenage phenom “won’t monopolise” the game like Phil Taylor did.

Littler rose to fame by embarking on a remarkable run to the final of the PDC World Darts Championship earlier this year.

Coming into the tournament outside the top 100, the world junior and youth champion defeated Brendan Dolan, Raymond van Barneveld and Rob Cross to reach the final at Alexandra Palace, before suffering a painful defeat to Luke Humphries.

Littler, nicknamed “The Nuke,” has won World Series titles in Bahrain and Poland, as well as European Tour events in Austria and Belgium.

And after being chosen as a wildcard for this season’s Premier League, the 17-year-old responded to the critics by winning the title in his debut season and the £275,000 first prize.

“There was a bit of a feeling within the Professional Darts Corporation that ‘Is it a bit early to be putting a youngster under that kind of pressure?’ There would have been at least 10,000 fans every Thursday night for 17 nights – ‘Can he cope?’ ‘Will it affect his long-term future?’ blah, blah, blah,” said Hearn, who is chairman of Matchroom Sport. Vscek.

“Eddie and I sat down to talk about it and the first thing Eddie said was, ‘It doesn’t matter how old you are, if you’re good enough you’re old enough’ and our job is to give people a chance and try their luck and, my word, it hasn’t paid off!?

“The guy is a lovely guy. He is a talent that will be around for a long time. He won’t win every match because the level of competition in darts is so high, there are so many great players, and that’s why it’s such a superb sporting spectacle.”

Hearn seems convinced that Littler made darts popular, and that this teenage phenomenon has proved an inspiration to many aspiring youngsters.

He said: “This young man has his feet on the ground. He has the right attitude and behind Luke Littler there are dozens of other Luke Littlers from all over the world and that’s the emotion.

“This darts game hasn’t even started yet. Everyone thinks it’s a huge thing and it is, but there’s still a long, long way to go.

“Littler took us from a sport to a mainstream one. Suddenly kids were watching, grandmas and grandpas, parents were watching. It became what we always look for in sports: a narrative. It’s about the personality and the stories behind the personality, engaging people so they can enjoy the sport from different angles.”

Littler may have already joined Jude Bellingham on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list, but what does the future hold for him in the game of darts? Hearn doesn’t think the Warrington ace can match Phil Taylor’s haul of 16 world titles.

“Phil Taylor’s title race is probably untouchable,” Hearn admitted. “The man was an absolute legend, but the competition wasn’t as strong then as it is now. Because these darts players are earning millions of pounds a year, they have a huge future, they’ve attracted a lot of talent from a much wider range of people who want to try darts.

“It’s not a difficult game to understand, it’s a very difficult game to master, but we have the strength to consider that we are using ordinary people, but they have extraordinary skills, so I think Luke Littler can be a multiple winner. He won’t monopolize, but he will have periods of dominance.”

What’s next on Vscek?

The BoyleSports World Grand Prix 2024 is the next event in the Vscek darts calendar.

The annual £600,000 tournament will take place at Leicester’s Mattioli Arena from 7 to 13 October, with 32 of the world’s biggest stars battling it out for the coveted title won by Luke Humphries.

Humphries celebrated his first televised title with victory over Gerwyn Price in last year’s tournament; the world No. 1 will return to defend his title later this year.

Six-time champion Michael van Gerwen will also star, while teenage superstar Luke Littler is set to make his debut with a double start in the East Midlands.

Compared to last year’s format, the semifinals on Saturday, October 12 will be played as best-of-nine sets, while the final set will be played as best-of-11 sets on Sunday, October 13.

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