Luke Littler beat Michael van Gerwen to clinch the 2024 World Darts Championship (Image: Getty)
Darts superstar has been warned of the threat three-time world champion poses after rediscovering his best form. But there’s another teenage sensation who could soon .
Littler – who turned 18 last month – recently suffered a first-round upset at the hands of Gerwyn Price during Night 3 of the Premier League season. Price went on to win the evening’s action in Dublin, one week after Littler clinched his maiden victory of the campaign in Glasgow.
Van Gerwen is yet to score the top prize at any event so far this term but has made it to the semi-finals of every Premier League evening thus far. And Whitlock – who is competing on the Modus Super Series after recently losing his PDC Tour Card – believes the Dutchman’s consistency is set to make him a major challenger once again.
“You’ve obviously got the two Lukes [Littler and Humphries], maybe Damon Heta, he’s got the game to compete with anyone,” he told . ” if he wants to put it together can do it and especially Michael van Gerwen.
“Van Gerwen is really getting his game back together, he’s playing phenomenally well. I’ve seen Michael for a decade or so and he’s just starting to get back to where he was and he looks more confident now.”
Meanwhile, the darts world is in a buzz following the emergence of another young prospect in Charlie Manby. That’s after the 19-year-old talent produced an astounding 130.70 average in his latest PDC Development Tour win.
It should come as no surprise the youngster blitzed his way to a 4-0 triumph over Patrik Williams on the second-tier circuit. Manby required just 46 darts to dust off four consecutive leg wins over Williams, obliterating Littler’s previous best by a country mile.
Last admiring glance at Manby’s superb effort
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The Nuke once celebrated a 115.22 average on the Development Tour, his highest in the competition before making the step up to the big leagues. However, that’s still only good enough for seventh in the history books.
Bradley Brooks, Gert Nentjes, and Owen Bates each managed to hit the milestone of averaging 120.24 in previous development matchups. But Manby has blown those out of the water with his new record benchmark, which may never be beaten.
Littler is unlikely to care much given his record as by far the youngest world champion oin darts history is easily the more meaningful of the two. However, it will nonetheless put a target on the back of Manby, who may be ready to follow suit by moving into the senior setup.