Luke Littler will face Michael van Gerwen in the World Darts Championship final tonight (3 January) and ahead of the game has spoken out on whether he's treated differently due to his age.
It's been about a year since the Nuke became a household name in the UK thanks to his impressive skills at such a young age.
Since coming second place at last year’s final, the 17-year-old has had an incredible debut season, picking up a number of titles on the professional tour.
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And despite one player making a sad admission about attitudes towards him, Littler spoke out about how other darts players treat him due to his age.
There’s no denying the teen isn’t quite your stereotypical player with his opponent tonight being pretty much double his years.
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Due to turn 18 in just over two weeks, Littler doesn’t reckon he’ll be treated any differently by his rivals when he becomes an adult.
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“I’ve been playing for a few years and, even when I first started, I felt like everyone treated me like any other darts player,” he told the Mirror.
“When you’re playing against someone, you don’t focus on things like their age, it’s just about your game and doing the best that you can.”
Ahead of the pair’s clash on New Year’s Day, fellow player Nathan Aspinall suggested some other stars are envious of the youngster’s success.
Littler currently sits as the World No. 4 in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and has picked up quite the string of titles over the last year.
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The reigning Premier League Darts, Grand Slam and World Series Finals champion, he also won the 2024 Bahrain Darts Masters, the 2024 Poland Darts Masters, the 2024 Belgian Darts Open and the 2024 Austrian Darts Open.
Now, that’s an impressive year.
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Ahead of their quarter-final, Aspinall described the Nuke as a ‘nice kid’ as he sees himself as a ‘bit of an older brother to him in the darts world’.
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"He hasn’t got many mates on the tour because a lot of people are jealous of him. I am not. I appreciate what he has done for the game. What he has done for himself and his family. I think he’s a fantastic darts player,” he said.
"How he has handled himself at 17 with the media... I don’t think many men, full-grown adults, could do what he has done. I tip my hat to the guy.”
The 2024/25 PDC World Darts Championship final takes place tonight at Alexandra Palace.
Topics: Luke Littler, Sport
Jess Battison