16-year-old defeats his idol
Boris Becker of darts? Luke Littler enchants the World Cup
By Kevin Schulte, London
December 31, 2023, 7:30 a.m
Luke Littler’s darts fairytale just doesn’t stop. The 16-year-old exceptional player from England is in the World Cup quarter-finals after defeating Raymond van Barneveld. Littler’s triumph is already being compared to Wimbledon 1985.
Luke Littler is just three years old and darts are already his favorite toy. And he already has an idol at this point. In a pixelated cell phone video from his mother, the young darter can be seen imitating Raymond van Barneveld’s iconic celebration pose. This Saturday evening, the now 16-year-old Littler was able to compete with his idol, who was 40 years his senior, for the first time in the pick-packed Alexandra Palace in London.
The result is a game for the history books. Luke Littler clearly defeated Raymond van Barneveld 4-1 after a convincing performance. The 3,000 fans in the darts stronghold are inspired by the mega-talent’s performance and sing about the “Littler Wonderland” that they entered on the last darts evening of the year in the “Ally Pally”.
The sport of darts has experienced many curiosities and absurdities. A 16-year-old who not only qualifies for the World Cup, but also marches through the tournament, is something new even for the sport of arrows. Because of the age limit, Littler is allowed to play with the big boys of the professional darts organization PDC for the first time and is directly in the World Cup quarter-finals. Game by game, the teenager adds a new chapter to his darts fairy tale.
Littler’s life consists of Xbox and darts
Hard to believe. Not even for Littler’s family in the audience area. Mother, father, grandmother, sister and many other family members and friends – they all hugged Luke warmly after the game. His father then accompanied him to the media appointments, fighting back tears of joy behind the scenes.
What does Luke Littler do outside of darts, a BBC reporter wanted to know at the press conference. “I get up, play Xbox, then I go to the dartboard. I don’t leave the house,” Littler answered in the same monotone as he answers any sports question. The 16-year-old’s professionalism is impressive.
His idol “Barney” gave him a few words to say after the game. “He said to me, ‘You can go all the way, I hope you can go all the way’. He’s a true gentleman and I respect Raymond a lot,” added Littler, who graduated from middle school six months ago and has been able to focus even more on Xbox and darts since then.
The 16-year-old giant talent was a bit too big for old master Raymond van Barneveld that evening. The reaction of the Dutch darts legend spoke volumes: no fatalism, a reasonably positive body language despite defeat, which is untypical for “Barney”. The attitude underlined that he had little to blame himself for and Littler simply couldn’t be defeated.
Humphries makes his next comeback
Luke Humphries, who started as the tournament favorite after three major tournament victories in a month and a half, also made it to the quarterfinals. In the English duel with Joe Cullen, “Cool Hand Luke” prevailed in the “sudden death leg” in one of the most competitive games in World Cup history. This happens when the deciding set is 5:5 in the legs.
Cullen had the advantage of being able to throw first in the last round, but Humphries still won, converting his tenth (!) match dart on double 10. Previously, Cullen had missed two chances for a surprise win against the world number three.
“I have no words for that,” Humphries said after the marathon match. “I think it was one of the best games I’ve ever been a part of. I feel so sorry for Joe because he was fantastic. Sometimes in sport there are no deserving losers.”
Humphries had already overturned a deficit in the third round against the German Ricardo Pietreczko. “I never give up and have found a way to win the game again,” commented the Englishman, who will face compatriot Dave Chisnall in the quarter-finals on New Year’s Eve.
Former champion Gary Anderson out
Gary Anderson, however, did not complete his comeback. The 2015 and 2016 world champion surprisingly lost 3-4 to Brendan Dolan in the first game of the evening session. After a very weak start, Anderson quickly found himself trailing 0-2 sets. And in the third round, too, Dolan, who had just as unexpectedly won against 2021 world champion Gerwyn Price in the third round, was initially in full control. But then a narrowly missed checkout suddenly brought Anderson back into the game.
Instead of being 3-0 down, Anderson won the round and then played at least two classes better than at the beginning of the game. Anderson took a 3-2 lead when Dolan suddenly gasped for the second air. The Northern Irishman managed to equalize 3-3 and still took victory in the deciding set after a dramatic festival of errors on the doubles courts.
Littler quarter-final favorite
Brendan Dolan faces Luke Littler tomorrow afternoon. The quarter-finals, sold as a daring tip by courageous darts experts after the draw, only seem like a stopover. Based on his performances so far, the youngster is going into the game as the favorite.
It seems as if “The Nuke”, as Littler is called, cannot be stopped. Even the world championship title is no longer a pipe dream for British bookmakers. After all, Littler’s idol “Barney” has long since believed in the teenage sensation’s big hit. Even before the generation duel in “Ally Pally”, van Barneveld had said that Littler could win the World Cup. “We all saw Boris Becker win Wimbledon at 17.”