Luke Littler has reportedly earned £59 for every dart he has thrown in ranking tournaments. The teenage sensation, who celebrated his 17th birthday last weekend, has enjoyed a rapid rise to fame after reaching the final of the World Darts Championship at the start of the month at the age of 16.
Littler was an unknown quantity when he entered the World Darts Championship but was soon able to illustrate his prodigious talents as he defeated the likes of 2007 champion Raymond van Barneveld and 2018 winner Rob Cross on his way to the showpiece event.
Littler dropped just six sets in his first six matches and stormed into a 4-2 lead against Luke Humphries in the final as he appeared to be on course to lift the Sid Waddell trophy. But he was eventually defeated 7-4.
The youngster was unwilling to let the defeat knock him down, however, and returned to action at the Bahrain Darts Masters last week. And he proved his performances at Alexandra Palace weren’t down to a lucky streak as he won the tournament after seeing off Michael van Gerwen 8-5 in the final.
Littler picked up a cheque for £200,000 for his appearance in the World Darts Championship final and was then handed another £20,000 for his triumph in Bahrain. And, according to Darts Orakel, every dart the superstar has thrown has been worth £59, with a staggering 3,746 arrows leaving his hand in senior tournaments.
Littler is already ranked at No. 31 on the PDC order of merit, which accounts for players’ earnings over the last two years, despite being a newcomer. And his earnings could blow his rivals out of the water in years to come.
Littler will win another £20,000 if he triumphs at the Dutch Darts Masters this week, which gets underway on Friday. And he is guaranteed £1,250 just for playing in the first round.
The Warrington-born star could come up against Gian van Veen, who he overcame in the World Youth Championship in November, and Raymond van Barneveld. And the teenager has admitted that both players will be out to get him if circumstances allow.
“The line-up’s really good for the Dutch qualifiers,” Littler said ahead of the tournament. “Whether Gian wants revenge, whether Raymond wants revenge… I’ll happily play either of them two. But I’ve not really looked at it. The line-ups going to be great and it’s going to be good this week.”
