30 December 2023 , 23:02
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Luke Littler has taken Alexandra Palace by storm at the PDC World Championship and is already guaranteed life-changing money.
Littler made it into the quarter-finals of the tournament by putting on an astonishing display to beat five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld on Saturday night. The 16-year-old triumphed 4-1 thanks to an average of 105 and some nerveless finishing in front of a raucous crowd.
He delighted his fans, who sang “he’s got school in the morning”, with nine 180s, as well as 11 scores of over 140. After racing into a 3-0 lead, he sealed the win against one of his childhood heroes on double 15, after deciding not to throw for bullseye and a maximum 170 check-out beforehand.
Littler will now face Northern Ireland's Brendan Dolan in the last eight, but he has already secured himself a huge payday. By reaching the quarter-finals, he is guaranteed to take him a minimum of £50,000.
If he loses to Dolan then he will bank a cheque for £50,000, but having come this far and played this well, there is no doubt he is targeting more. Should he beat Dolan and reach the semi-final, where he would face the winner of Rob Cross vs Chris Dobey, he will earn £100,000.
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The money doubles again for reaching the final, where there is £200,000 on offer to the runner-up and £500,000 for the winner. Littler was born 21 days after Van Barneveld, 56, won the most recent of his five world titles in 2007, but he is supremely confident in his own ability and said he fancies his chances against Dolan next up.
Luke Littler is already guaranteed £50,000 (Andrew Redington/Getty Images)"Unbelievable! My average has shown it, my double percentage has shown it. I don't know what to say!” he told Sky Sports. "He [Van Barneveld] said 'you can go all the way, I hope you can go all the way'. I said 'thank you' - he's a true gentleman and I respect Raymond. I fancy myself [to win the whole thing], I do fancy myself! Let's just focus on Brendan."
Three-time world champion John Part said: "He really is a great player. I have to put aside that he is 16, that was a performance from any player where you say he can win the tournament if you play like that. He won easily, it was a great performance.
"Those are darts that win titles. In the longer format, against a great of the game [van Barneveld] averaging 100, Littler made him look insignificant. Raymond was chuckling, he handled it very well, he is a great of the sport. He will be heartbroken, it was a big chance for Ray – but it is a bigger chance for Luke."