16-year-old darts sensation confident he can win World Darts Championship

A teenage darts player has said it will ‘take a lot to stop’ him as he sets his sights on winning the World Darts Championship.

Luke Littler has been playing darts since he was just a toddler as he started out using a magnetic board.

The 16-year-old has been wowing audiences as they’ve watched him rise up the ranks with an incredible run in the World Darts Championship.

And with each passing set, Littler believes he has what it takes to win the tournament to become champion.

He’s now just two victories away from winning after his debut at the huge event.

After sweeping past Brendan Dolan to set up a semi-final against Rob Cross on Tuesday 2nd, he will play for a place in the final, held at Alexandra Palace on Wednesday night.

“It’s going to take a lot to stop me,” he told the BBC. “It feels unbelievable. I never thought I would have got to the semis on my debut year.

“It’s crazy watching myself at 18 months or two years old in a nappy, but it has all paid off.

“One day we went to a shop with my parents and I pointed to a magnetic dartboard because they look similar. The rest is history.”

Littler has got the darts world talking as he became the youngest player to win a match in the tournament as crowds taunted him with, ‘you’ve got school in the morning,’ during his first-round win against Christian Kist on December 20th.

Less than two weeks later he has banked £100,000 in prize money and is being asked for selfies with fans everywhere he goes, while getting to watch Premier League football matches sat in executive boxes.

“I’ve been to an Arsenal game, I went to a Tottenham game – people come up to me. I don’t know who these people are but they know me,” he said.

“It is a good feeling and I will always take a picture with anyone. I was in (Tottenham midfielder) James Maddison’s box.

“It was good to meet him, get a few pictures and meet his family. It was really nice.”

Standing between Littler and a place in the final is Cross, who is number eight in the world.

Cross made history himself after becoming the first player to fight back from 4-0 to beat Chris Dobey 5-4 in his quarter-final.

Cross won the World Championship on his debut back in 2018 and thinks Littler has a similar kind of momentum behind him as he did.

Cross said: “Everyone loves an underdog story. It took a bit of pressure off me winning it first time as well.

“He’s fantastic and he deserves all the luck in the world – he is a nice young boy. Tomorrow we play darts, though, and I have to go down to business.”

The other semi-final taking place is an all-England match also, which will see Scott Williams face third seed Luke Humphries.

Williams shocked Dutchman and three-time winner Michael van Gerwen 5-3 as he made it to the last four for the first time in just his second appearance at the World Championships.

Humphries, who won three major titles in 2023 and is the highest-ranked player left in the competition, is also in the last four who will play for a place in the finals at Alexandra Palace after he beat Dave Chisnall 5-1. It will be his first final.