Gary Anderson is not yet convinced that Luke Littler has ‘got the jewels’ to make a living from darts in spite of the 16-year-old’s impressive run at the World Darts Championship. Littler has taken the sporting world by storm over the last few weeks and has already guaranteed himself the biggest payday of his young life by reaching the third round.
Littler will take home at least £25,000, which will rise to £35,000 if he beats Matt Campbell in his next match at Alexandra Palace. Anderson, however, has questioned whether Littler is brave enough to commit to a career in darts, especially if things start to go wrong over the coming years.
“I don’t think I’ve met Luke but aye, cracking, brilliant,” Anderson told the Daily Star. I” never even started playing darts until I was about 24. The youngsters nowadays are coming from school straight into darts, which is great.
“They can have a few good years, but what’s going to happen when it starts going wrong? Have you got the jewels to say: ‘I’m going for it, I am going to make a living out of darts’? It’s a hard call especially if you’ve got a family. But this lad can play.”
Littler is being touted among the favourites to win the World Darts Championship after dropping just one set from his opening two matches. A handful of big names have already been knocked out in Littler’s half of the draw, with the likes of Peter Wright, James Wade and Jose de Sousa no longer involved at the tournament.
The teenage sensation will be hoping to maintain his incredible run for as long as possible, even if the top prize ends up being a step too far at this stage of his fledgling career. Rob Cross, who won the World Darts Championship on his debut six years ago, has already warned against putting too much pressure on Littler to become the youngest champion in history.
“Make no mistake, Luke is going to be superb,” said Cross last week. “I wouldn’t like to put too much pressure on him. He will have the weight on him but if he doesn’t look, he won’t feel it like me in my first year here. That boy doesn’t need any advice but what I would say is that you must follow your path, wherever that leads you.
“You cannot fight fate. It will happen, it’s written in the stars. Look at him, 16 years old, wow. He’s a breath of fresh air and he takes it all in his stride. The way he came out and did a job on Christian [Kist] and then found a way to beat Andrew [Gilding] when the going got tough was fantastic.
“I think he is going to be great for the game. Maybe it will happen for him this year, maybe next year, I don’t know, but he definitely has the minerals for it. How can you doubt him? He makes his Ally Pally debut and he averages 106. He’s so calm, he does what he needs to do and that, on its own, is special.”
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