A superhero on the oche: who can stop Littler?

Defending champion has made world domination look easy at the age of 18 but will still be wary in early rounds

- Jonathan Liew

You will be seeing plenty of Batman and Wonder Woman over the coming weeks; Spiderman, Mr Incredible, perhaps even a Ninja Turtle or two. Yes, Christmas at Alexandra Palace is always a good time for spotting superheroes. But only one of them will not be wearing a costume.

In fact, it is when he is in his normal human clothes, doing normal human things, that Luke Littler looks at his most incongruous. Standing with his fellow Manchester United fans at Molineux. Proudly brandishing a fresh driving certificate after finally passing his test. And it is in these more unguarded moments that you remember that the man they call The Nuke, the phenomenon who has detonated the sport of darts, is really still just a kid, a regular lad from Warrington with a deeply irregular talent.

Two years after the tournament that changed everything for ever, Littler returns to north London as the defending champion, the world No 1, the indisputable titan of the game. The UK Open champion, the World Matchplay champion, the World Grand Prix champion, the double Grand Slam winner, the Players Championship Finals winner. He has won more than twice as much ranking money as his closest competitor. But he would trade it all in for a successful title defence on 3 January, becoming the first man to retain the world title since Gary Anderson a decade ago.