Luke Littler has taken the darts world by storm and is making headlines around the world as the 16-year-old stands on the cusp of one of the greatest sporting stories of all time at the World Championship.
The teenage darts sensation plays Rob Cross in the semi-finals tonight and is enjoying celebrity status amid his historic run at Alexandra Palace.
Littler became the youngest semi-finalist ever after beating Brendan Dolan 5-1 in the quarter-finals on Monday night, which followed his stunning victory over his childhood idol Raymond van Barneveld.
The Cheshire player is also attracting the support of Premier League stars and the Manchester United fans was a guest at Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur matches over the weekend.
Littler and his family received complimentary tickets to watch Arsenal in the Premier League on Thursday night, with Gunners pair Declan Rice and Aaron Ramsdale asking him for a photo.
“It was unbelievable,” Littler said. “I was walking to my room and one of the security guards from Arsenal said to me Declan and Aaron wanted a picture with me and I just went ‘a picture with me’, and they came out for one.
“They said they have a dartboard up in the changing room. It is crazy for them to want a picture with me, it should be the other way around.”
Littler was also a guest in James Maddison’s box for Tottenham’s win over Bournemouth on New Year’s Eve, with the Spurs midfielder and England international a huge darts fan. Maddison has attended sessions at Ally Pally in the past and celebrates goals but pretending to throw a dart at an imaginary board.
Littler is a Manchester United fan, though, and also revealed that he has received messages of support from defender Jonny Evans and former right back Gary Neville.
“It was incredible to get the messages, obviously United didn’t get the win (against Nottingham Forest over the weekend), but Jonny (Evans) and Gary (Neville) are United legends and Jonny is still playing for us, it was just incredible,” he said.
A semi-final against 2018 winner Rob Cross is next up for Littler, but he will no longer have to meet Michael van Gerwen in the final after the three-time champion suffered one of the biggest shocks in recent times, going out 5-3 to unseeded Scott Williams.
It has been quite a tournament for Williams, who had to apologise for insensitive comments about the war after beating Germany’s Martin Schindler earlier in the tournament, but he let his darts do the talking in a career-best performance, outscoring his illustrious opponent.
He will now meet pre-tournament favourite Luke Humphries, who breezed past Dave Chisnall in the other quarter-final.
