Luke Littler claims that his impressive win over Michael van Gerwen in the Bahrain Darts Masters final last month was nothing more than ‘match practice’, as the 17-year-old prepares to pour all his efforts into achieving Premier League Darts glory.
Littler reached the World Darts Championship final in January, beating several seasoned heavyweights on his tournament debut at the age of 16. Now a year older and battle-hardened after losing to Luke Humphries at Alexandra Palace, the youngster has continued mixing it with the best at recent tournaments.
He hit a nine-darter and beat Van Gerwen en route to the Bahrain Darts Masters title, before making it back-to-back World Series finals at the Dutch Darts Masters, where ‘Mighty Mike’ got his revenge.
Despite Littler’s spectacular achievements, he claims that his triumph over Van Gerwen in Bahrain and deep run in Den Bosch were merely warm-ups for the Premier League, which got underway in Cardiff last Thursday.
“I am just happy with how I have been playing,” Littler told PA. “The World Darts Championship was a big step up but I have proved I can play with the best and that is why I have got my shot in the Premier League.
“It was good to win [against Van Gerwen] on my debut [in Bahrain] and obviously become the youngest person to hit a nine-darter as well. But overall it was just match practice for the Premier League, as was Holland. Now we are kicking on with the Premier League. I know I have got the ability to beat the best.”
“It’s just been crazy but I’ve just been living how I have been doing – chilling when I have time off but when I’m at my darts events, being fully focused,” he continued.
“That’s what I’ve always done. I have always been myself and kept to myself.” When asked if he was enjoying the media attention, he added: “I have and I haven’t. It does get very boring!”
