LITTLER'S LONG GAME

In the blink of an eye, darts prodigy Luke Littler has become a sporting sensation. But while fame has upended his young life in less than two years, this 18-year-old is focusing on staying the distance

- BY NICK REILLY

AFTER BECOMING A millionaire at the precocious age of 17 following his Grand Slam of Darts win last November, you might expect Luke Littler to be living a justified life of Lamborghinis and Lanson in the increasingly rare moments that he steps away from the oche. But ask the youngest world champion in darts history how he chooses to spend his downtime and, refreshingly, you'll receive the same answer that you'd get from millions of teenagers across the land.

“You know what it’s like,” the 18-year-old reflects as we sit down in a dressing room just off the vast corridors of Berlin’s Uber Arena on a sunny Wednesday afternoon in early April, a day before the Premier League Darts tournament arrives in the German capital. “You come home, and you just want to chill. A bit of playing Xbox, speaking to my friends, and going out for some food.”

This down-to-earth response is remarkable when you consider that Littler is one of the most recognisable faces in the UK and just months into adulthood already a sporting icon. He is riding a wave that has seen him go from relative obscurity to becoming the PDC World Darts Champion and transforming the sport in a way that no other player has managed in a generation.

For years, Littler toiled in youth leagues and playing games with The Bogey Flickers, the darts team at his local golf club in Runcorn, Cheshire. But his life changed forever when he made his first stab at the 2024 PDC World Darts Championships, which began in December 2023. In a remarkable run to the final, the then 16-year-old claimed the scalps of previous champions Raymond van Barneveld and Rob Cross in emphatic fashion, before eventually losing to Luke Humphries.