Teenage darts sensation Luke Littler will ditch his Xbox for the practice board on Christmas Day as he attempts to keep his World Championship dream alive.
The 16-year-old debutant has taken the tournament by storm and booked his spot in the third round with an impressive win over the UK Open champion Andrew Gilding on Thursday night. He will now head home to Runcorn for the festive period, but the usual fun and games after Christmas dinner will be replaced by a tough practice session.
“It’s been a crazy few days,” said Littler, who last month won the World Youth Championship. “Christmas is going to be very different. We’ll do the same thing a family always does and then, when I finish my dinner, I will get on the board for a good few hours. I would normally wait for the dinner to be cooked, go on the Xbox, call my mates, speak to them, but I’ll be on the board.”
The precocious player does not turn 17 until next month, but people are already talking about him as a possible champion. He produced a record-breaking performance in his first-round win over Christian Kist, posting the highest three-dart average of any World Championship debutant with a stunning 106.
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A winnable last-32 tie against the Canadian Matt Campbell is next when the tournament resumes after Christmas and Littler is daring to dream, even if he thinks he has already overachieved.
Asked whether he believes he can go all the way at Alexandra Palace, he said: “If my A-game is there I don’t see why not, but I have just got to beat what is in front of me. Loads of people are expecting me to win it, I am just happy to have won my first game. When I got back to the hotel after beating Christian Kist I said, ‘Let’s try and come back after Christmas,’ and that’s what I have done, so I have overachieved this year.
“It is just unbelievable, I can’t wait to come back after Christmas. Being on stage has been amazing and I’ve loved the support, it’s unbelievable.”
Littler is also dreaming of a meeting with either Raymond van Barneveld or Michael van Gerwen in the later stages of the tournament.
“I always looked up to Phil Taylor, Barney and Michael van Gerwen. It would be unbelievable to play one of those two,” he added.
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