Luke Littler is the favourite for World Darts Championship glory (Image: Getty)
Not much in the world of darts has stayed the same since burst onto the scene 12 months ago.
Rewind a year and the then 16-year-old was writing his own headlines after blitzing through the first two rounds of action.
But few could’ve predicted the impact he’d have on the sport in the days, weeks and months that followed.
Littler will return for the post-Christmas action at Alexandra Palace as the tournament favourite and with 14 seeded players having already been knocked out, the teenager is highly fancied to go all the way.
Understandably, the 17-year-old’s meteoric rise has commanded plenty of media attention, but according to one darts star, not everyone in the sport has welcomed Littler-mania with open arms.
“The publicity that Luke has, that helps. Because some of the players overthink it,” James Wade exclusively told Express Sport prior to this year’s Worlds.
He continued: “I think some of them do [get pressured by Littler], which is quite strange.
“But I think some of the other players struggle with the support Luke gets and the media coverage.
Read mire… [READ]
Luke Littler has commanded plenty of media attention since bursting onto the scene (Image: Getty)
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“I think it affects some of the other players far more than they let on… some of the other players who usually get all that romance are now not getting it and it’s an advantage. It’s hard for some of them to swallow.”
Wade understandably remained tight-lipped when pressed on which players he believes have been the most frustrated by disproportionate media coverage.
But as long as Littler continues to light up the Ally Pally stage, it’s hard to imagine the Runcorn-born star not continuing to top the bill.
Littler’s World Championship endeavours continue this weekend when he takes on Ian White for a place in round three.
Don’t miss… [READ] [DARTS]
It comes after the teenage prodigy revealed he ‘didn’t want to be’ on stage during his round two win over Ryan Meikle.
, the youngster said: “All week I was looking forward, excited to play on stage, no nerves. The train journey down here was fine, just being myself.
“And then as soon as I got on that stage, it was like, ‘I don’t want to be here.’ Just in my head. It was tough, but I dragged myself over the line.”
Elsewhere, the second favourite for the title Luke Humphries takes on Nick Kenny, with the winner to play either Jermaine Wattimena or Peter Wright.
Nathan Aspinall and Andrew Golding will go head-to-head, while Joe Cullen will come up against Gerwyn Price in what’s being billed as the tie of the round.