Littler ready for day of destiny

LUKE LITTLER will prepare for his next day of darting destiny by spending his winnings on pants and shoes!

The Warrington wonderkid has taken the Paddy Power World Championship by storm with three sensational wins. 

Now 16-year-old Luke the Nuke is ready to face either his hero Raymond van Barneveld or Jim Williams in Saturday’s last 16 clash at the Ally Pally. 

Littler said: “I'm happy to get over the line. I can win with the lowest average of the tournament and I would be happy to get through.

“When I won my first and second games, against Christian Kist and Andrew Gilding, I thought to myself, ‘I have nothing to lose. I have overachieved. I can settle’.

“On Thursday, I will stay in the hotel, chill out, treat myself to some shoes and pants. Then on Friday, I will see who I will play in the next round.”

Littler, the reigning world youth champion, spent Christmas Day playing on his Xbox.

Just two days later he was outgunning World No.57 Campbell with remarkable composure. 

The Canadian, having gone three sets down, found some form to get into the game and win the fourth. But plucky Littler then wrapped it up with a 110.44 average in the last set. 

He nailed checkouts of 164 on the bullseye, 130 and 100 and averaged 97.19 across the five sets.

He added: “This is unbelievable. I only wanted to win one game but I've won three. I’m so happy.

“Everyone says, ‘He's only 16’ but I just let my darts do the talking.

“When I went two-nil up against Matt, I tried to calm myself down because last time it didn't go too well. But I stayed composed and got over the line.

“Playing Raymond would be unbelievable. I cried when I saw my mum in the crowd with her head in her hands. I said to her, ‘The dream continues’.”

Words by Phil Lanning.

Images by Taylor Lanning.