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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
John Dunne

Luke Littler: Teenage darts sensation to take on world championships final fuelled by omelette and pizza

Darts sensation Luke Littler will prepare for the biggest game of his life fuelled by a ham and cheese omelette for breakfast and pizza for lunch.

The 16-year-old will on Wednesday night bid to become the youngest World Championship winner in history when he takes on world number one Luke Humphries in the final at a sold-out Alexandra Palace.

More than two million viewers are set to tune in for the match, with Littler already guaranteed a £200,000 prize for making the final.

If he wins, he will pick up £500,000.

But the teenager, from Warrington, insisted he will not be changing his preparation despite his fairytale run to the final.

“I’ll keep doing what I’ve been doing. In the morning I’ll go for my ham and cheese omelette, then later a pizza and then practise on the board,” he said.

If he does lift the Sid Waddell Trophy, he said he wants to treat friends to a night out in Blackpool or a day at Alton Towers.

The youngster, nicknamed Luke the Nuke, beat Rob Cross, 33, by six sets to two in Tuesday night’s semi-final.

Afterwards, he said: “It’s crazy. I was happy winning one game, but I could really go all the way. Here I am in the final.

“I’ve settled on that stage. Once I find that rhythm after the first few legs I’m good to go.”

He was embraced by his girlfriend, 21-year-old Eloise Milburn, from Hersham, Surrey.

Luke Littler with his girlfriend Eloise Milburn prior to his semi-final (Getty Images)

The pair have been dating for around six weeks, after meeting while playing Fifa online on Xbox.

Her mother Amanda, 56, defended their relationship, saying: “There’s been a lot of horrible stuff being posted online about my daughter and my husband Phil and I are very angry about it.

“Eloise has been accused of all sorts and that she’s only with Luke because of his money and fame. But that’s a total pack of lies and disgusting.

“She’s not with him for any of these reasons. She doesn’t care about his money or his fame, she’s with him because she likes him. It’s as simple as that.”

His grandmother Carol Littler plans to travel to the final.

“He only sat his GCSEs last summer, but he has got an old head on him and is mature for his age. We are dreaming about him winning it and think he will.”

His opponent Humphries, 28, has admitted he’ll have to “probably have to play the game of my life” to see off the teenage prodigy.

It will not be the first time they have played each other.

A picture posted by Luke on his Twitter account shows him standing next to Humphries after they played each other in a competition in Hayling Island when he was just 12 years old.

Luke Littler (left) met Luke Humphries (right) during a competition in November 2019

Humphries emerged the winner on that occasion - but Wednesday night’s game will have added spice.

While the teenager is a Manchester United fan, his opponent - also called Luke - is a supporter of rivals Leeds United.

His father is such a big Leeds fan that Humphries was named after the club, with the initials of “Leeds United Kings of Europe” spelling out Luke.

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