The proud sister of 16-year-old darts sensation Luke Littler has declared ‘the dream continues’ after he reached the semi-finals of the World Darts Championships.
Luke ‘The Nuke’, from Warrington, swept aside veteran Brendan Dolan 5-1 during a thrilling showdown at London‘s Alexandra Palace.
It means the teenager, dubbed the ‘Prince of the Palace’, has now bagged himself a guaranteed £100,000 payday for reaching the semi-final of the tournament – becoming the youngest player in history to do so.
The boy wonder’s fairy-tale performance at the tournament – which has seen him toppling some of the biggest legends in the sport – has led to fans hailing him the ‘Ronaldo of darts’ after the famed Portuguese football ace.
And his family has been by his side throughout the Warrington schoolboy’s magical tournament, which has led to him becoming an a household name overnight, with sister Caitlin Littler saying: ‘The dream continues. Unbelievably proud of you.’
Caitlin is a staunch supporter of the 16-year-old star, regularly sharing posts about her sibling’s success in the sport.
Writing in August after he won his second Modus Super Series gong she said: ‘Speechless he’s done it again! Never EVER been more proud of someone, what a night! You just continue to amaze us all everyday we all love you so much, keep smashing it.’
Child prodigy Luke has been honing his skills since he was a tot. His mother Lisa Buckley would upload videos of him as an 18-month-old toddler, still in nappies, giggling as he threw darts at a magnetic board.
She has even shared an adorable snap of a beaming Luke as a young boy standing in front of his first bullseye as he gives a victorious fist pump to the camera.
Luke’s proud support network includes his grandparents Carol and Phil Littler. Carol, who follows her grandson’s success celebrated his victory during the Modus Super Series in May, defeating Jacob Taylor 4-1 in the final to win.
‘Well what can I say I’ve got an Amazing Grandson Luke. Modus champion. I am so proud of you,’ Carol wrote on social media.
Littler was born 20 days after five-time world champion Van Barneveld defeated Phil Taylor 7-6 in the greatest World Championship final of all time in 2007. It is testament to his rise that the Dutchman told Littler that he ‘can go all the way’ after their clash.
Coming into the tournament at Alexandra Palace a 150-1 outsider, remarkable Luke is now 7-2 second favourite to win behind Michael Van Gerwen, with a former tutor at the teen’s youth darts club declaring: ‘What he’s got I couldn’t teach. He’s the Ronaldo of darts.’
Speaking about his ice-cool demeanour at the oche, Luke added: ‘I am daring to dream now. I am only three wins away. I’m so young, only 16, I have nothing to fear. I have no-one to fear.
‘My game can be better than anyone’s on the day and I have shown it against one of the greatest players to have graced the stage.
‘Do I feel unstoppable? Whatever Luke Littler turns up, on whatever day I play, will determine the outcome.’
Speaking after Luke’s stunning victor, his proud father Anthony Buckley, a taxi driver from Warrington, told Sky Sports: ‘I can’t believe it. He just beat a legend. I don’t know what to say.
‘He used to watch Barney when he was three and he’s just beat him – it’s crazy!
‘On his day he could do [go all the way]. He’s got a good a chance as anyone.’
Previously, Anthony claimed to have urged his son on to pursue his love of darts, with the hard-working family man giving up his Saturdays – his only day off – to help drive Luke across the country to compete as a lad.
‘He was a good footballer. He loved football. All kids do. But I said to him at nine, hang your boots up. Concentrate on darts. You can still play football here and there. But if there’s a darts comp on at the weekends, go to darts first. Make that your priority because I thought he could make it at darts – and he has done,’ he told The Times.
‘When I said to him, you need to keep playing darts, he was OK with it. We put him in every competition that was online. Sometimes you’re getting up at 7am on a Saturday – my only day off – just to play darts. There were no lie-ins.’
Luke trained at St Helens Darts Academy, leaving club secretary Karl Holden blown away by his natural talent. ‘I’ve seen a lot of good ‘uns,’ he said. ‘I’ve watched them all when they were younger but I knew Luke was going to cause a lot of problems… He’s just a unique kid with crazy talent.’
Rising star Luke entered main competitions while still in primary, going against adults at least a decade his senior – some more than three times his age.
Karl added: ‘In darts you’ve got to have sheer bottle to keep your nerve. He’s got an abundance of confidence. Even before he was 13 we said “listen, we can’t help you any more, you’re too good”. Three months before he was 11 we had to throw him in the deep end with the under-21s. It took him six months before he won his first one.
‘He was playing a lot of county youth players. What he’s got I couldn’t teach. He’s the Ronaldo of darts.’
After his victory on Saturday, Luke revealed that during his early childhood he was obsessed with playing darts – as well as enjoying his computer games.
‘I would just wake up, play on my Xbox, have some food, have a chuck on the board and go to bed. That’s it,’ he told journalists.
‘I don’t engage with anything outside the house. I’m not into anything outside the house, whatever my mates get up to. I just stay level-headed.’
Littler was born 20 days after five-time world champion Van Barneveld defeated Phil Taylor 7-6 in the greatest World Championship final of all time in 2007. It is testament to his rise that the Dutchman told Littler that he ‘can go all the way’ after their clash.
Coming into the tournament at Alexandra Palace a 150-1 outsider, remarkable Luke is now 7-2 second favourite to win behind Michael Van Gerwen, with a former tutor at the teen’s youth darts club declaring: ‘What he’s got I couldn’t teach. He’s the Ronaldo of darts.’
Speaking about his ice-cool demeanour at the oche, Luke added: ‘I am daring to dream now. I am only three wins away. I’m so young, only 16, I have nothing to fear. I have no-one to fear.
‘My game can be better than anyone’s on the day and I have shown it against one of the greatest players to have graced the stage.
‘Do I feel unstoppable? Whatever Luke Littler turns up, on whatever day I play, will determine the outcome.’
Luke trained at St Helens Darts Academy, leaving club secretary Karl Holden blown away by his natural talent. ‘I’ve seen a lot of good ‘uns,’ he said. ‘I’ve watched them all when they were younger but I knew Luke was going to cause a lot of problems… He’s just a unique kid with crazy talent.’
Rising star Luke entered main competitions while still in primary, going against adults at least a decade his senior – some more than three times his age.
Karl added: ‘In darts you’ve got to have sheer bottle to keep your nerve. He’s got an abundance of confidence. Even before he was 13 we said “listen, we can’t help you any more, you’re too good”. Three months before he was 11 we had to throw him in the deep end with the under-21s. It took him six months before he won his first one.
‘He was playing a lot of county youth players. What he’s got I couldn’t teach. He’s the Ronaldo of darts.’
Littler’s talent was clear from the video of him throwing darts in his nappies when he was hitting the 20s with ease.
This was followed up by a video of him again demonstrating all his natural talent aged three – which he shared ahead of his clash with Van Barneveld – as Littler imitated his idol in the clip with his wide arms celebrations.
Littler’s insane skill saw him dominating the Junior Darts Corporation tour, with his high eyebrows catching the attention of the sporting world.
His high point came when he won the 2023 PDC World Darts Youth Championship and it was only a matter of time until he made his mark at senior level.
In fact, he started to play in senior tournaments during his early teen years, winning his first title at the Irish Open aged 14 in 2021.
Littler – who was given his first proper dartboard aged four – has since won several other tournaments such as the British Open, Modus Super Series (twice), Romanian Open and Gibraltar Open, where he also hit a prestigious nine-darter.
Yet there was no doubt his appearance at this year’s PDC World Championship was his biggest challenge yet.
While his talent was known beforehand after securing a PDC Tour Card for 2024-25 due to his performances, he still came in to the tournament as a pre-tournament outsider.
Littler – who revealed in August that he only practices for between 30 minutes to an hour a day – has so far swept aside Christian Kist, Andrew Gilding, Matt Campbell and Van Barneveld, breaking records along the way.
His first round victory over Kist saw him become the youngest winner at the tournament, while he also posted the highest average for a debutant (106.12) and it was there where he really began to endear himself to the nation.
Littler’s celebrations saw him take a trip to the kebab shop to celebrate in what has become a tradition for Ally Pally’s boy wonder.
Serenaded by chants of ‘you’ve got school in the morning’ in the second round, Littler proved that his first-round win was no fluke as he demolished Gilding before celebrating with a late-night chicken burger.
Between his victory over Gilding on December 21 and his third-round tie with Campbell on December 27, Littler – who ditched his Xbox for Christmas practice – still found time to celebrate the festivities.
This included his mum posting a photo on social media of him opening his presents, with the image a reminder of his tender age and since going viral. Fans joked in the replies whether Littler even knew if Father Christmas wasn’t real yet.
His new-found fame has also seen Littler inundated with media requests yet the teen is seemingly relishing the attention.
This may be thanks to the Junior Darts Corporation, who prepared him for becoming mainstream by having him conduct media chats while he was trouncing everyone else his age, hence his relaxation in front of camera.
However, the coverage has still received a word of warning from his fellow players, including veteran Scot Gary Anderson.
Speaking earlier in the tournament, he said: ‘If it goes t*** up with Luke give yourselves a pat on the back.
‘Let the boy play darts. I’ve been downstairs and he’s got cameras, zoom calls, meetings… Let the boy play darts.
‘He’s had a great tournament, he’s done well. What if it all goes Pete Tong now? You boys have ruined that. Let the boy play darts, He’s 16 years old.
‘Keep having that boy mic’ed up, doing interviews when he should be on the practice board. You’ve seen it a thousand times. Every year there’s a boy come through.’
Seeing as Littler is so good with numbers, perhaps that is the best way to sum up his newfound fame.
He had 4,000 followers on Instagram at the start of this tournament but 134,000 as of Saturday night; 7.8million views of that picture of him opening his presents on Christmas morning; two starstruck England internationals in Declan Rice and Aaron Ramsdale who stopped him for a selfie in his hotel lobby; and one offer from a PR firm to give him ‘free kebabs for life’ if he can become world champion.
Along with praise from darting legend Phil Taylor, commentator and former star Wayne Mardle described him as ‘extraordinary’, adding he ‘may be the most naturally talented player I’ve ever seen’.
Littler’s talent has been accompanied by an endearing reminder of his tender age and affable personality, with the 16-year-old recently revealing what he planned to do with his prize money from the tournament, which could rise as high as £500,000 if he goes all the way.
‘I always treat myself to some Under Armour tracksuits,’ he told the Daily Telegraph in a recent interview.
‘And just get myself a new coat and get myself some FIFA points for my Xbox. That’s pretty much it.’
Littler may also spend some of the money on driving lessons when he turns 17 on January 21, saying he’d ‘love to start driving’ so his dad Anthony – who is a taxi driver – doesn’t have to keep ferrying him to tournaments.
Earlier this week, Littler also told talkSPORT he plans to take his friends on a trip to Blackpool or Alton Towers after the World Championship.
‘All my friends are watching at home, we’ve always said we need to go Blackpool or Alton Towers so I think they will be looking at me like “you’re paying, Luke” and I’ll be like “yeah, okay!”‘, he said.
His family – who had him in Cheshire pubs five nights a week at the age of eight honing his craft – have been a major part of his journey too, with Littler regularly turning towards them to celebrate during matches, while his walk-on to the stage has seen his entourage grow ever bigger.
After his third round victory over Campbell – where he vowed to celebrate with a kebab and a shopping spree – he revealed seeing him mum Lisa, who works in a scented candles shop, made him emotional.
Meanwhile, his dad Anthony could barely contain his excitement after his victory over Van Barneveld.
‘I can’t believe it. He just beat a legend. I don’t know what to say,’ he told Sky Sports.
‘He used to watch Barney when he was three and he’s just beat him – it’s crazy! On his day he could do [go all the way]. He’s got a good a chance as anyone.’
Perhaps the best way to sum up Littler is via the pinned tweet on his X, formerly Twitter, profile.
Sharing a post from the JDC’s Steve Brown, the original post said: ‘Embrace the generational talent that is Luke Littler. What ever happens over the next few weeks he’s the best teenager I’ve witnessed & I’ve seen a few over the last 30 years.’
That generational talent has risen from a 66-1 outsider to a second favourite 7-2 to win the tournament.
He is only behind Michael van Gerwen, who he could meet in the final, with the Dutchman the previous youngest winner of the tournament at 24.
Even if he doesn’t do it this time, Littler still has plenty of years to beat that record and few would back against the boy wonder continuing his journey over the next week, especially given his belief in his own ability.
‘It’s unbelievable. I don’t know what to say. I’ve done it. I fancy myself. I do fancy myself,’ he said after averaging 105 in his win against Van Barneveld. ‘Let’s focus on Brendan.’
Plenty of others fancy Littler too, but for now, as that social media post says, ‘Embrace the generational talent that is Luke Littler’.