THE “Luke Littler Effect” has once again hit Ally Pally – yet this time the man himself wants to become a darting Invincible.
Littler’s sixteenth game at the World Darts Championship saw him post a tournament personal-best average of 107.09 as he smashed Austrian slowcoach Mensur Suljovic 4-0 in 25 minutes on Saturday night.
You could see how much keeping a clean sheet meant to the reigning world champion, who dropped only three legs out of 15.
So far, so clean this month – three wins, 10 sets won, none lost, two 100-plus three-dart averages, twenty 180s and more than 50% on his doubles.
Nobody, not even the legendary Phil Taylor, the sixteen-time world champion, has managed to win the Sid Waddell Trophy without dropping a set.
Taylor, 65, won the world title in 1998 with a 6-0 thrashing of Dennis Priestley and then had three 7-0 final victories (in 2001, 2002 and 2006) but in the competition he did drop at least one set.
Becoming an Invincible is the challenge facing The Nuke as he aims to be the first person to go back-to-back in this event for a decade and bank the £1million top prize.
Asked if he could go all the way without losing a set, Littler replied: “If I play the way I did there, definitely.
“Obviously, the most crucial thing is going into a match, picking that first set up.
“Knowing you can win one in that game and then obviously build on from there. But yeah, we’ll have to see.
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“No matter how you win a game, obviously you want to win it in fashion, in style. But yeah, just to get the win there and progress to the 29th, I can’t wait to be back.
The Warrington ace is arguably the reason why people are throwing for a record £1million prize pot given how he has transcended the sport since his emergence two years ago, going global with his status.
Littler, always so confident and self-assured, used his media conference to take a cheeky swipe at the outgoing Stephen Bunting, the No4 seed, who had surprisingly lost 4-3 to bricklayer James Hurrell before he came to the oche.
Littler – who faces Rob Cross in the last 16 on Monday – said: “I mean, obviously, the Luke Littler Effect, it’s still going strong in this tournament.
“I don’t think the Bunting effect is going too well this tournament.
“So yeah, maybe I’ve got the biggest fan base. Had to say that, sorry.
“I mean obviously people can say whoever plays Luke Littler next, they’re going to lose.
“But this is darts. Anything can happen. Anyone can win and lose.
“But yeah, I’ve just got to show up for my next game and hopefully put in another performance like that.”
On Christmas Day, Littler “got two hoodies, some new shoes, some new aftershave, new trackies and all that stuff” off his family “but no money”.
Littler – who wants to end 2025 with a nine-darter – showed great maturity as he coped with the tactics of Suljovic, purposely taking his time and slowing down his own throw in response.
For someone so young – we often forget he is just 18 – Littler is a remarkably mature person, more so than moaning Joe Cullen who had branded Suljovic’s methods as “cheating”.
Believe it or not, however, there are some things that rile Littler, though not a lot.
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LUK OUT!
The world No.1 said: “If I am honest, mentally on the stage I don’t think I’m really that good.
“I can still lose my head a bit. I can still throw a dart in the board out of frustration. I can get frustrated. We all do.
“But obviously I’m still only 18, I can still work on it and build from it.
“Obviously if I’m winning 3-0 and 4-0 then there’s nothing to worry about.
“What makes me lose my head? Err, missing doubles, someone giving it large when they hold a throw. Not saying who! But yeah, that’s it.”
Cross, 35, will be Littler’s next opponent after he smashed Australian Damon Heta 4-0 with a 94.11 average in the third round on Sunday.
The former world champion played Littler in the 2024 semi-finals and won the opening set before going down 6-2.
Voltage, who has practised extensively with Littler, knows exactly what he is going to face but reckons he could DECK the holder, whom he compared to a tin of Ronseal paint.
Cross said: “Littler’s beatable. It’s a game of darts. Realistically I need to start well. I need to hit top gear.
“He’s going to be like Ronseal – does exactly what it says on the tin. I have got to expect that. If he starts slow, I have to jump on it.”
