Luke Littler names darts’ two hottest prospects and throws down gauntlet

Luke Littler sees incredible talent emerging in darts, but can he see any of them replicating his success? He would be very surprised.

The 19-year-old is already a two-time world champion and has 14 major PDC singles titles to his name, sitting pretty at the top of the world rankings.

After reaching the World Championship final on debut at 16, it has been an incredible level of dominance from a man unable to enjoy a beer when he goes to the US Darts Masters.

The Nuke’s success has caused an explosion of interest in darts and there is a wave of young talent ready to crash down on the professional circuit.

Littler sees his new challengers emerging, with two standing out to him above the rest.

Speaking to Metro, Littler said: ‘There’s loads of youngsters. I think they’ve just got to get their head down and just obviously want it.

‘The biggest ones, I’d say at the minute they’re probably just level with each other, are Archie Self, he’s just won the Modus Super Series in Portsmouth and Mitchell Lawrie, the Scottish young lad. Then there’s just so many more.

‘It’s so good to see so many youngsters and if they can come through and do what I’ve done, then yeah, fair enough. Me and the whole tour, we’ve got something on our hands.

‘For myself, I was just straight in at Ally Pally, with the media, papers, all that stuff, it was all new. Whereas the likes of Mitchell and Archie, they’ve had interviews before they’ve been playing, so obviously they’re getting used to it sort of thing. If they do come on tour and get a tour card, then it’ll just be normal to them.’

Littler may see that media experience as an advantage for the standout teenagers coming through, but does not think it will help them enough to replicate his achievements.

‘I don’t think so,’ he said on whether any young stars can do what he has done. ‘I think Archie’s qualified for the World’s this year. If he goes on and gets runner-up and then gets invited to the Premier League, will he win the Premier League on debut? The Grand Slam on debut? There’s so much more obviously to look into.

‘But yeah, if someone can do what I’ve done, then I’ll sit back and I’ll say fair play because there’s a lot to win in your first year.’

Scotland’s Lawrie and Berkshire’s Self – both 16 – have thrown stunning darts away from the big leagues of the PDC and look ready to mix it with the stars of the professional circuit.

Lawrie was one of the players picked to play in the Netflix show Beat Luke Littler, but did not get a shot at the world champ as Fallon Sherrock won her leg to claim the £501,000 top prize.

There was some controversy surrounding the project as many expected contestants to be unknown pub players, while the qualifying criteria only ruled out anyone who holds or has ever held a PDC tour card.

Sherrock – despite being one of the biggest names in darts – met that qualifying criteria and took her chance to claim the huge reward.

Littler says any criticism was probably borne of jealousy, although admits he was surprised that it was not just Sherrock, but a number of recognisable amateur players who were picked for the show.

‘It was very good,’ he said of his experience on Netflix. ‘The only thing, well, it’s not even negative, it’s just people online questioning Fallon. Everyone’s fuming but it’s probably only because they went to the qualifiers and didn’t qualify.

‘She went on stage, won the bullseye, threw first and went out with 15 darts. I would have had to go on 12, which I didn’t. She threw 15 very good darts.

‘Before I saw the line-up, I thought it was just pub players or average players, whereas I knew almost half of the players that were on the line-up. So yeah, it was surprising for me and made me practise a bit more before we went on stage.

‘Obviously if I lost the first game, then that’s it, the show’s over. So I was glad I dragged it on for a bit longer and I would have liked to drag it on till the end, but it didn’t happen.’

The Netflix debut last month showed that the Luke Littler effect is still being felt, as the growth of darts to new audiences continues apace.

Littler is fronting a campaign from KP Nuts to get more new fans involved, explaing: ‘It’s another big, obviously the biggest thing is £20,000 by scanning a pack of nuts! But also cash prizes every day and even some dartboards if you’re lucky.’

The Nuke sees cracking America as the big target for darts, with some success already at the US Darts Masters in New York, but with huge potential ahead.

‘I think it’s only going to grow and myself, the PDC, they want to get it bigger and bigger, mainly over in the States.

‘I think with Matchroom and the boxing, it’s big in America and I think Barry and Eddie [Hearn] will push it more out to the States. Obviously we go to New York once a year for the World Series, but it wouldn’t surprise me if we went over twice, maybe three times a year.’

Luke Littler and KP Nuts have launched ‘Hit the Bullseye’, giving fans the chance to win £20,000, dartboards and daily prizes by scanning the QR code on promotional packs available in pubs and shops now. Visit https://kpnutsfordarts.com/ for more info.