Luke Littler: Barry Hearn says teenage darts star can become a multiple world
championLuke Littler has taken darts “from a sport to mainstream” according to British sports promoter Barry Hearn but he “won’t monopolise” the game; Darts is back on Sky Sports with the World Grand Prix at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester from Luke Littler, Premier League DartLuke Littler can be a multiple world champion, according to sports promoter Barry HearnPromoter Barry Hearn says Luke Littler has taken darts “from a sport to mainstream” but the teen sensation “won’t monopolise” the game like Phil Taylor did.Littler rose to fame by embarking on a remarkable run to the final of the PDC World Darts Championship earlier this year.Entering the tournament ranked outside the top 100, the junior and world youth champion defeated Brendan Dolan, Raymond van Barneveld and Rob Cross on his way to the Alexandra Palace final before an agonising defeat to Luke Humphries.Littler, nicknamed ‘The Nuke’, has gone on to win World Series titles in Bahrain and Poland as well as European Tour events in Austria and Belgium.Littler and Lando Norris take each other on at a darts challenge followed by a hot lap around the Silverstone trackStream the darts and more for £26 with NOWLuke Humphries sinks Michael van Gerwen to win World Matchplay classicWorld Matchplay Darts ScheduleListen to Love The Darts Podcast | Get Sky Sports on WhatsAppLittler receives an unexpected message of support from WWE champion Cody Rhodes whilst being shown round their HQ!And after being picked as a wild card for this season’s Premier League, the 17-year-old answered his critics by winning the title in his debut campaign – and the £275k top prize.Advertisement”There was some feeling within the Professional Darts Corporation ‘Is this a bit too early to put a youngster under that type of pressure?’ There were going to be 10,000 fans minimum every Thursday night for 17 nights – ‘Can he cope?’ ‘Will it affect his long-term future?’ blah, blah, blah,” Hearn, who is the president of Matchroom Sport, told Sky Sports.”Eddie and I sat down to discuss it and the first thing Eddie said was ‘It doesn’t matter what age you are, if you’re good enough you’re old enough’ and our job is to give people a chance and roll the dice and my word, didn’t that pay off in spades!?”The kid is a lovely boy. He’s a talent that’s going to be around for a long time. He’s not going to win every match because the standard of competition within darts is so enormous, so many great players, which is why it makes it such a superb sporting spectacle.”Littler won the Premier League in his debut campaign after defeating world No 1 Luke Humphries 11-7 in the finalHearn seems convinced Littler has taken darts into the mainstream with the teen sensation proving an inspiration for many aspiring youngsters.He said: “This young man has got his feet on the ground. He’s got the right attitude and behind Luke Littler are dozens of other Luke Littlers coming from all over the world and that’s the excitement.”This game of darts hasn’t really started. Everyone thinks it’s massive and it is but there’s a long, long way to go.”Littler took us from a sport to mainstream. All of a sudden kids were watching, nans and grandads, parents were watching. It became what we always look for in sport – a narrative. It’s about the personality and the stories behind the personality, getting people involved so they can enjoy the sport from several different angles.”Watch Littler’s nine-darter from all angles as ‘The Nuke’ hit perfection on Premier League Finals nightLittler may have already joined Jude Bellingham on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list, but what does his future in the game of darts hold? Hearn doesn’t think the Warrington ace can catch Phil Taylor’s haul of 16 world titles.”Phil Taylor’s title run is probably untouchable,” admitted Hearn. “The man was an absolute legend but the competition wasn’t as good then as it is now. Because these darts players are earning millions of pounds a year, have got a huge future, it’s attracted an awful lot of talent from a much wider range of people who want to try darts.”It’s not a difficult game to understand, it’s a very difficult game to master but we have the strength to factor in that we’re using ordinary people but they have extraordinary ability, so I think Luke Littler can be a multiple winner. He won’t monopolise but he will have periods of domination.”Littler and Jose de Sousa have both hit sensational 120 finishes in the Premier League but who did it better?What’s next on Sky Sports?