Boris Becker of darts? Luke Littler delights the World Championship

Luke Littler's darts fairytale just won't end. The 16-year-old exceptional player from England has reached the World Championship quarter-finals after defeating Raymond van Barneveld. Littler's winning streak is already being compared to Wimbledon 1985.

Luke Littler is just three years old when darts are already his favorite toy. And he already had an idol at this point. In a pixelated video on his mother's cell phone, the young dart player can be seen imitating Raymond van Barneveld's iconic cheering pose. This Saturday evening, the now 16-year-old Littler had his first opportunity to compete with his 40-year-old idol in London's packed Alexandra Palace.

The result was a match for the history books. Luke Littler defeated Raymond van Barneveld 4:1 after a convincing performance. 3,000 fans in the darts stronghold were inspired by the mega-talent's performance, singing about the "Littler Wonderland" they had entered on the last darts evening of the year at the Ally Pally.

The sport of darts has seen many curiosities and absurdities. However, a 16-year-old who not only qualifies for the World Championships but marches through the tournament is a novelty even for the sport of darts. Because of the age limit, Littler is allowed to play with the big boys of the professional darts organization PDC for the first time and is directly in the World Championship quarter-finals. Game after game, the teenager adds a new chapter to his darts fairytale.

Littler's life consists of Xbox and darts

Hard to believe. Not even for Littler's family in the spectator area. His mother, father, grandmother, sister and many other family members and friends - they all gave Luke a big hug after the game. His father accompanied him to media appointments afterwards, fighting back tears of joy behind the scenes.

At the press conference, a BBC reporter wanted to know what Luke Littler does outside of darts. "I get up, play Xbox, then I go to the dartboard. I don't leave the house," answered Littler as monotonously as he answers every sporting question. The 16-year-old's professionalism is impressive.

His idol "Barney" had a few words for him after the game. "He said to me: 'You can go all the way, I hope you can go all the way'. He's a true gentleman and I respect Raymond a lot," added Littler, who graduated from high school six months ago and has since been able to focus even more on Xbox and darts.

For former champion Raymond van Barneveld, the 16-year-old giant talent was a size too big on this evening. The reaction of the Dutch darts legend spoke volumes: no fatalism, halfway positive body language despite the defeat, which is atypical for "Barney". The attitude underlined that he had little to reproach himself with and that Littler was simply unbeatable.

Humphries makes his next comeback

Luke Humphries, who started as the tournament favorite after three big tournament wins in a month and a half, also made it to the quarter-finals. In the English duel with Joe Cullen, "Cool Hand Luke" prevailed in a sudden-death leg in one of the most competitive matches in World Championship history. This happens when the score in the deciding set is 5:5 in the legs.

Cullen had the advantage of being allowed to throw first in the last leg, but Humphries won anyway, converting his tenth (!) match dart on double 10. Before that, Cullen had missed two chances to secure a surprise victory against the world number three.

"I have no words for that," said Humphries after the marathon match. "I think that was one of the best matches I've ever been involved in. I feel so sorry for Joe because he was fantastic. Sometimes in sport there is no deserving loser."

Humphries had already turned around a deficit in the third round against the German Ricardo Pietreczko. "I never give up and I found a way to win the game again," commented the Englishman, who will meet compatriot Dave Chisnall in the quarter-finals on New Year's Eve.

Former champion Gary Anderson out

Gary Anderson, on the other hand, did not complete his comeback. The 2015 and 2016 World Champion surprisingly lost 3:4 to Brendan Dolan in the first match of the evening session. After a very weak start, Anderson was quickly 2:0 behind. And Dolan, who had won just as unexpectedly against 2021 World Champion Gerwyn Price in the third round, was initially in full control in the third round as well. But then a narrowly missed checkout suddenly flushed Anderson back into the match.

Instead of trailing 0:3, Anderson won the set and then played at least two classes stronger than at the start of the match. Anderson took a 3:2 lead when Dolan suddenly gasped for second air. The Northern Irishman equalized the score at 3:3 and still managed to clinch victory in the deciding set after a dramatic festival of errors on the doubles courts.

Littler favorite in the quarter-finals

Brendan Dolan will play Luke Littler tomorrow afternoon. The quarter-finals, sold as a bold tip by courageous darts experts after the draw, now only seem like a stopover. Based on his performances so far, the youngster is certainly the favorite going into the match.

It seems that "The Nuke", as Littler is known, is unstoppable. Even the world championship title is no longer a pipe dream of the British bookmakers. After all, Littler's idol "Barney" has also long believed in the teenage sensation's big shot. Even before the generational duel at the Ally Pally, van Barneveld had said that Littler could win the World Championship. "We all saw how Boris Becker won Wimbledon at 17."

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Luke Littler aims to emulate Boris Becker's triumph at the World Darts Championships, having been inspired by Raymond van Barneveld at a young age and now competing in the tournament at just 16 years old. The teenager's idol encouraged him to push for the title, believing that Littler could become the new champion, just as Becker had won Wimbledon at 17.

Source: www.ntv.de