Luke Littler ‘will surprise a lot of people’ as Barry Hearn reveals what darts sensation, 17, is like behind the scenes
BARRY HEARN has revealed what Luke Littler is like behind the scenes.
The teenage darts sensation has been the talk of the sport during his incredible rise in the last year.
Littler, 17, topped the Premier League darts table with 40 points earlier this year, beating out the likes of Luke Humphries and Michael van Gerwen.
Professional darts corporation president Hearn believes that Littler can become one of the best darts players of all time.
Hearn has revealed that Littler would “surprise” many as he is already “mature” with the way he carries himself.
He said: “He has the potential to be one of the greats of all time. That is the sacrifice he has to make. Does money spoil him along the way?
“No one really knows the answer, will he be or won’t he be. It will largely depend on him and how he copes with his new world.
“I think he will surprise a lot of people with his maturity as he already has. The way he handles himself. He’s excellent. Let’s hope he keeps like that. We are being entertained by greatness.
“There’s a dozen or so players that have the potential from 12 years up.
“People will always be wise after the event. Now all of a sudden I found myself saying this the other day ‘Oh we’ve all known about Luke Littler since he was seven’. Marginally true!
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“I think there’s another kid coming up at the moment who I think is 10 who has been throwing since he was three.
“This is joy to a promoter, what we all need is narrative in every sport.
“We need to be able to tell a story, set the scene. We need to involve everybody, get people talking.
“Luke Littler did that. By the way, he’s still got a long way to go.
“I think he’s a sensible boy, I think he knows that. He’s pacing himself and he’s going to get beat as well, he’s not going to suddenly blow everybody away.
“Because the sport we’ve created over the years is too competitive for someone to come in and do a Phil Taylor.
“I mean Phil Taylor has 16 world championships, an unbelievable player.”
Inside Littler's massive rise
LUKE LITTLER has taken the darts world by storm since exploding onto the scene at the PDC World Championship at the beginning of the year.
The Nuke reached the final on his Ally Pally debut at just 16 years of age – smashing records along the way.
He has then gone on to win a host of PDC events and the Premier League title – which he claimed at the O2 Arena by beating world champion Luke Humphries in May.
He also finished his first season in the World Series as the No1 ranked player.
He has joined Jude Bellingham on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list.
And the teenage titan even had to snub an invite from the WWE.
The Sun exclusively revealed that Littler is plotting to create a fitness empire.
He is also cashing in away from the Oche thanks to an Instagram side hustle.
And he’s even the face of a brand new cereal.
But he is newly single after splitting from girlfriend Eloise Milburn following a 10-month relationship.
Check out all of our latest Luke Littler stories.