Luke Littler, 16, offers hilarious answer when compared to Pele and teen stars

31 December 2023 , 19:51

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Luke Littler, 16, offers hilarious answer when compared to Pele and teen stars

Luke Littler might be on the brink of joining an elite band of sporting greats but the 16-year-old is seemingly too young to have heard of most of them.

The teenager has been by far and away the story of the PDC World Championships, searing through to the quarter-finals at Ally Pally. And he'll take to the oche again on New Year's Day as the favourite, both with the crowd and bookmakers, to overcome Brendan Dolan and make the final four.

And should 'The Nuke' go all the way and be crowned champion on January 3, he will comfortably become the tournament's youngest ever winner. That current mantle belongs to Michael van Gerwen, who was 24 - some eight years older - when he prevailed in 2014.

It would put Littler in the echelon of teenagers to have tasted glory on the global sporting stage. Brazilian football legend Pele was only 17 when he first helped his country win the World Cup, with Boris Becker only a year older when he captured his first Wimbledon crown.

Another tennis star, Emma Raducanu, was only 18 when she embarked on her very own fairytale of New York to win the US Open. Mike Tyson meanwhile, was 20 when he became professional boxing's youngest ever world heavyweight champion.

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In his post-match press conference after beating Raymond van Barneveld 4-1 on Saturday, Littler admitted he was unaware of the majority of star names put to him. “Unbelievable, the names you have just said,” he replied.

Luke Littler is on track to be the youngest ever winner of the PDC World Championships (PA)

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But while computer games ensure he was aware of Pele, it seems tennis is not amongst Littler's hobbies: “I know Mike, I only know Pele off FIFA and I don’t know the other ones. I have certainly broken the rules and records already but I know if my game is there I can beat even more records."

Littler has dropped just three sets on his run to the last-eight, and the World Youth champion has shown few signs of nerves when closing out matches. And he also appears to have the self-belief required to do the unthinkable.

“My game is there, it is every darting kid’s, man’s, whoever’s dream to win it," he added. "I have certainly got the game, it is whatever happens on the day, whatever Luke Littler turns up.”

Fraser Watson