Luke Littler is back at Ally Pally. (Image: Getty)
It’s hard to comprehend that just 12 months ago, the name remained all but unknown in the world of . That’s despite the fact the 16-year-old had qualified for the at Alexandra Palace, a title he had already won at youth level.
Although a first-round exit appeared likely, the teenager would still make £7,500 even if he lost his first-round match against Christian Kist.
The Dutchman, a former BDO world champion, was the resounding favourite for the clash but neither he, nor the crowd at the famous palace, knew what was coming.
‘The Nuke’ notched an average of 106.12 against Kist, a record for a rookie, and romped to victory. And now a crucial conversation he had with manager Martin Foulds on his way to that match has been revealed.
According to , after explaining why there would be nerves on his debut, Littler was told by Foulds: “It’s not a team game, you’re playing for No 1. You go out there to win. You don’t go up there to ‘try’. You go up there to win. Trying is for losers.”
Despite the blunt order, Littler replied with a simple 10-word vow, saying: “I’ll just go and enjoy it tonight. See what happens.”
Littler celebrates beating Christian Kist last year. (Image: Getty)
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Enjoy it he did and the fairytale didn’t end there. He would go on to also dispose of Andrew Gilding, Matt Campbell, the iconic Raymond van Barneveld, Brendan Dolan and former world champion Rob Cross.
That set up a historic final with world No.1 . The unthinkable seemed possible as Little led 4-2, but ‘Cool Hand Luke’ – sparking up an epic season-long rivalry between the pair.
But despite his meteoric rise, the champion has never appeared to have lost his initial vow to enjoy himself. His laid-back attitude between events sees him spend much of his downtime playing computer games and hanging out with friends.
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Regardless, the relative anonymity he experienced going into his campaign in 2023 is now a thing of the past. Littler will kick off his campaign on Saturday as one of the most recognisable sporting stars on the planet, and this week .
And far from being seeded, he’ll play Ryan Meikle as the world No.4. However, Littler is in the same side of the draw as top seed Humphries this time around, meaning there can be no repeat of last season’s final clash between the two.