16-YEAR-OLD SETS RECORD AS YOUNGEST DARTS PLAYER TO REACH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
Luke Littler, a 16-year-old, is dominating the PDC World Darts Championship. Littler has advanced to the finals as of this writing, triumphing over seasoned opponents and past champions who are two to three times his age. The young man defeated Rob Cross, the 2018 competition winner, to advance to the final. "No words are available. It's absurd. Littler told Sky Sports, "It is insane to even consider that, on my debut, I am in the final." "I'm glad I won one game, and I can now go all the way." It's not simple. You are controlling Rob, a world champion who triumphed in his first match. There are no words for me. He has made £200,000 ($252,640) in the competition thus far.
At the age of eighteen months, Littler, a resident of Northern England, started tossing darts at a magnetic board. His previous coach, Karl Holden, told the BBC that "by the time he was 10 we knew he was too good for his age." Since he wasn't allowed to play in the PDC or on the professional circuit until he was sixteen, we just let him have fun and watched him rise through the ranks. Because he was too good for anyone else, he moved up from the under-10s to the under-14 leagues and, before he was eleven, the under-21s.
Littler has set a record by advancing this far in the competition. At this point, he is the youngest finalist ever. When Kirk Shepherd participated in the 2008 tournament, he was 21 years and 88 days old. He held the previous record. Littler has an easygoing lifestyle when he's not playing darts. The master dartsman reportedly tells The Guardian of his daily regimen: "Just wake up, play on my Xbox, have some food, have a chuck on the board and go to bed, that's it." Following a recent victory, he rewarded himself with "a kebab and a can of Tango," a popular British soft drink.
Luke Humphries, age 28, will take on Littler in the championship match. Speaking of his teenage opponent, Humphries complimented him on his skills. "I've watched him play a lot of times, and he's got a lot of bottles," he remarked. "But coming up on this stage, it can be a lot tougher." "If he played like that tonight, nothing will faze him—he won't be phased at all by tomorrow."
Littler, for his part, is going to relax. He replies, "I'll just keep doing what I've been doing." "I'll have my ham and cheese omelette in the morning, have a pizza later, and then practice on the board."