- Luke Littler became the youngest player to win the World Darts Championship
- The 18-year-old has tipped to eclipse Phil Taylor’s record haul of 16 world titles
- Teenager insists that he will only play as long as he has motivation for the game
Luke Litter has silenced talk of him playing professionally well into his latter years.
The teenage sensation made history last month when he became the youngest player to win the World Darts Championship at the tender age of 17.
Littler has long been compared to record winner Phil Taylor – who retired aged 57 – and tipped to eclipse his total of 16 world titles.
But Littler has revealed that he has no desire to match ‘The Power’ in that regard and insisted that he will stop playing as soon as he loses motivation to succeed.
‘I won’t be playing at 50,’ Littler said on the Huw Ware’s new Tops and Tales podcast. ‘I could wake up tomorrow, the fire’s gone out of my belly, and I wanna retire. So maybe I can’t achieve it.’
His words come after a whirlwind couple of years after first bursting onto the scene at last year’s world championship. Littler went all the way to the final before losing to Luke Humphries.
Luke Littler has hinted that he could retire from professional darts at a young age
The 18-year-old became the youngster player to win the World Darts Championship last month
Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor won a record 16 world titles before his retirement at the age of 57
His profile skyrocketed in the following 12 months ahead of his maiden global title in January.
This week, the 18-year-old fired back at critics after his surprise third-round defeat in Players Championship One in Wigan, the opening event of the 2025 PDC ProTour season.
The Robin Park Leisure Centre welcomed the newest additions to the professional circuit alongside established players in a 128-strong field, with a top prize of £15,000.
Littler – beaten by Michael van Gerwen on the opening night of the Premier League in Belfast – had started with a 6-4 win over Canadian veteran Jim Long and then beat Martin Lukeman 6-3, but was averaging only 87.4.
Joe Cullen, though, proved too strong for the 18-year-old, landing eight maximums in a convincing 6-3 victory, taking five straight legs as Littler missed 15 doubles.
There was some criticism for the biggest star in darts online and the 18-year-old has hit back.
A fan on Facebook came to the defence of The Nuke, writing: ‘all you Littler haters make me laugh remember what he’s done and won in one year on tour. Hate people who rip into people’s success.’
And Littler replied from his account, saying: ‘Still earned a few quid today while these are sat at home charging their phones waiting for me to lose.
