Darts player Nathan Aspinall has spoken about the attitude some of his fellow players have towards new kid on the block, Luke Littler.
Even if you're not a big fan of the darts, you've probably heard of Luke 'The Nuke' Littler, who burst onto the scene last year as a teenage prodigy.
It was hard not to get caught up in the excitement around Littler, who showed up at the PDC World Darts Championship and just kept winning, defeating two former world champions before he was finally defeated in the final by Luke Humphries.
He may not have become the world champion at the first time of asking, but it seems clear that the world of darts has a new star, with the 17-year-old Littler having done pretty damn well for himself already.
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Littler has won 10 PDC titles already in his career and it can be easy to forget the fact that he's both a teenager and still very new to all of this.
The 17-year-old, who is due to celebrate a birthday later on this month, was spoken about by fellow darts player Nathan Aspinall ahead of their New Year's Day clash in the quarter finals of the WDC, and Littler's opponent made the sad admission that some of the other darts stars are envious of his success.
"I see myself, not so much of a role model, but a bit of an older brother to him in the darts world. We don’t speak much outside of darts but when it comes to darts, I do try to help him. He’s a nice kid, "Aspinall graciously said ahead of their quarter final.
"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.
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"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…but I’m still going to smash him on New Year’s Day."
While Aspinall had plenty of kind words for Littler, his prediction that he was going to 'smash him on New Year's Day' ended up being wide of the mark.
If there was any New Year's Day smashing going on then Littler was the smasher and Aspinall the unfortunate smashee as the 17-year-old won 5-2.
Littler, who is ranked number four in the world in darts, has set himself up for a semi-final against Stephen Bunting.
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Meanwhile, the other semi-final will be between Michael van Gerwen and Chris Dobey.
Another darts player who seems to like Littler is his victorious opponent at the WDC last year, Luke Humphries.
He said there was 'nothing to dislike' about Littler and no reason to be envious of the 17-year-old's fame since he 'can only admire him', suggesting that sport hadn't seen a rise like this since tennis ace, Boris Becker.
Ahead of the WDC, Humphries had said: "I’d rather be friends. There’s nothing to dislike about him. He doesn’t say anything horrible, he’s quite placid and down-to-earth and that’s why you see a friendly atmosphere when we play. There’s no animosity as we’re privileged to be the two top players in darts.
"I’m winning and losing finals against him and each match between us is an event. So we’re not the best of friends but we get on well."
Topics: Luke Littler, Sport, Celebrity
Joe Harker