Luke Littler is back in action at the Dutch Darts Masters after turning 18 (Image: Getty)
Luke Littler celebrated his 18th birthday in an incredibly normal way despite being anything but ordinary in the world of . That’s because the youngster, who (January 21), opted to spend it bowling with his pals.
has looked to keep his feet firmly on the ground despite becoming the sport’s youngest-ever world champion. And that showed in his comments to , saying of his birthday: “Yeah it was good. Went bowling with a few of my friends. Didn’t play the best, but it was just good to get out and celebrate.”
Before heading to the bowling alley, it seems he tucked into a chippy dinner – as his father was comically spotted picking up food from Castlerise Fish and Chips as Littler played FIFA in front of a audience. When quizzed about his dad being snapped picking up a meal, Littler added: “Yeah, it was weird obviously. Surely they know that I’m going to go out, but obviously before that I was on playing my FIFA in front of like 4,000 people.
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“So obviously they thought I was staying in for the night, but unlucky for them, I went out.” Littler’s birthday celebrations are a far cry from other notorious parties that celebrities and athletes alike have held for their own 18th festivities – showing how down to earth the youngster is despite his impact on the world of darts over the past year or so.
For example, singing sensation Justin Bieber celebrated his 18th at the Beverley Wilshire Hotel, surrounded by stars like and , while striker Alvaro Morata reportedly spent an evening with Real Madrid legend Ronaldo Nazario.
Littler has enjoyed a significant rise to superstardom over the past year or so. The youngster first caught the eye of darts fans at the – a competition he entered as a 66/1 outsider and ended up making it to the final of.
Littler’s rise to stardom has been meteoric (Image: Getty)
While ‘The Nuke’ ultimately found himself bested by PDC world no.1 7-4 in the final of the tournament, beating the likes of Raymond van Barneveld and on the way gave him a brilliant basis to build on across the 2024 season.
He was able to scoop the Bahrain Masters in January, blitzed through the competition of February’s Players Championship, picked up a Belgian Darts Open title in March, and continued to compile trophies in the form of the , Austrian Darts Open, Poland Darts Masters, the World Series and the Grand Slam of Darts.
And Littler etched his name into the annals of history earlier this month, when he became the youngest ever player to win the PDC World Championship on his second attempt – aged just 17 years and 347 days old. Littler defeated Ryan Meikle 3-1 in his opening game, bested Ian White 4-1 in the following round, sent Ryan Joyce spiralling in a close-fought 4-3 win, and dispatched of 5-2 in the quarter-finals.
Littler enjoyed some down time with his friends for his birthday (Image: PA)
Littler cemented his spot in the final after beating 6-1 in the semis, before making light work of three-time world champion in a 7-3 victory. Speaking after his win, Littler said: “Everyone dreams of lifting this trophy, but you’ve got to get through a tough field.
“Even before qualifying. But yeah, I can’t believe it.” Littler bowed out of the Bahrain Darts Masters in the quarter-finals earlier this month, courtesy of a 6-2 loss to .
He got back to winning ways at the Dutch Darts Masters on Friday (January 24), beating Dimitri van den Bergh 6-4. In a rematch of the world final, he’ll clash with Van Gerwen in the quarter-finals tonight.