Piers Morgan says darts star Luke Littler will be bigger star than Gazza
Piers Morgan has predicted Luke Littler will become a huge sporting icon after losing last night’s World Darts Championships.
The 16-year-old darts sensation has become a household name since reaching the finals at London’s Alexandra Palace in his first professional competition, after starting as a 80-1 outsider just a few weeks ago.
Though he didn’t pocket the £500,000 prize money after losing to 28-year-old Luke Humphries on Wednesday night, Piers says it will actually work out better for the teenager in the future, who broke down in tears at his loss - just like it did for Gazza, who cried after being sent off in the England World Cup semi-final against Germany in 1990.
“If Luke Littler pulls a Gazza, loses and cries, he’ll become ten times as big a star as if he wins,” the controversial broadcaster said on X, formerly known as Twitter. Some fans seemed to agree, as one wrote back: “Victory’s mundane, but tears are legendary.” While another added: “The weepy victory lap! Tears: the unexpected secret to instant stardom.”
Luke Littler broke down after losing the World Darts Championship Final (Getty Images)Nicknamed Luke ‘the Nuke’, the boy wonder from Warrington was ranked 164th in the world and was a virtual unknown before the start of the competition. Now he is one of the most famous sports stars in the country after blowing away a sting of rivals, including three former world champions, and winning the nation’s hearts in the process.
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Despite it being only the first week in January, Luke is already the hot favourite to be crowned Sports Personality of the Year in December. And the teenager, who turns 17 later this month, has no plans to go anywhere and is dead set on winning future tournaments.
Speaking after his defeat, he said: “I’ve won about five or six games here, so why can’t I go and win another seven within years to come at this tournament. It’s been unbelievable. Like I said, I just wanted to win one game, come back after Christmas and that was it. That was the only goal I set, so this is just a massive bonus.”
The image of Gazza crying during the 1990 World Cup Semi-Final became iconic (Getty Images)Luke honed his skills from the age of nine at the St Helens Darts Academy in Merseyside. Academy co-founder Karl Holden has compared him to being “like a Lionel Messi or Ronaldo” such is his talent.
He said: “We helped him out and pushed him in the right direction, giving him good advice, but just left him on his own really, he is just so naturally talented. He is like a or Ronaldo, super players, when you watch them you can see how good and how different they are, and Luke is like that. He has got better every year. If he gets any better, not many are going to fancy playing him.”
As well as becoming a global sports star in recent weeks, Luke also managed to bag himself a girlfriend who has been seen supporting him at his side throughout the competition. Eloise Milburn is a 21-year-old amateur darts player from Surrey who met Luke while she was playing FIFA on Xbox.
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