By Martyn Herman
LONDON (Reuters) – Darts has long been an integral part of Britain’s festive sporting menu and thousands of fans will once again dust off the fancy dress outfits traditionally worn for the annual pilgrimage to London’s Alexandra Palace for the PDC World Championship.
But thanks to teenager Luke Littler, this year’s edition which starts on Sunday and runs until Jan. 3 has already hit the bullseye with demand for tickets surging like never before.
Twelve months ago Littler could have strolled through his native Warrington without anyone batting an eyelid.
Then the 16-year-old took the darts world by storm with an incredible run to the final where he lost to Luke Humphries in a clash which attracted a peak TV audience of 3.7 million — Sky Sports’ highest figure for a non-soccer event.
Littlermania has scaled new heights since and he is fast becoming one of Britain’s most recognisable sportsmen with commercial deals galore and millions of social media followers.
He is even tipped as a favourite for the BBC’s prestigious Sports Personality of the Year Award.
Nicknamed ‘The Nuke’, Littler has his own-branded magnetic dart board which is flying off the Christmas shelves, endorses a popular breakfast cereal and recently signed a collaboration deal with games console Xbox whose logo will be one of the many to feature on his distinctive purple and yellow shirt.
The down-to-earth teenager, who celebrated wins last year at Alexandra Palace with kebabs, could eclipse darts great Phil Taylor and become a British icon like ex-England soccer captain David Beckham, says twice world champion Dennis Priestley.
“I just hope he’s surrounding himself with the right people who will keep him grounded,” Priestley told talkSPORT radio. “If they can do that and he can remain at the top of his game for 10 or so years, he’ll be worth more than David Beckham.”
Far from allowing his fame to take his eye off the board, Littler’s aim has been spot on throughout a year in which he has claimed 10 titles from Bahrain to Wolverhampton, pocketing more than one million pounds ($1.27 million) in prize money alone.
Littler’s spectacular rise has attracted a huge following from young fans with the number of academies for young players doubling since his run last year, according to Junior Darts Corporation chairman Steve Brown.
“When I played darts as a child I was quite embarrassed to tell my friends what my hobby was,” Brown told the BBC.
“All these kids playing darts now are pretty popular at school. It’s a bit rock ‘n roll and recognised as a cool thing.”
All eyes now turn to Ally Pally where Littler is favourite to become the youngest world champion, although catching a glimpse of him on the oche might be tricky with ticket platform viagogo saying demand has risen 95% year-on-year with fans from 32 countries set to descend on the iconic London venue.
Littler begins his quest on Dec. 21.
($1 = 0.7870 pounds)
(Reporting by Martyn Herman)
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