Luke Littler left rival astonished in his own house as Michael Smith gets reality check
Luke Littler's breakout over the past few months has left many stunned, and his rivals have even been astonished by his performances in practice sessions.
Nathan Aspinall has revealed that darts’ breakout star Luke Littler stunned him when they practised in his own home. The pair will both feature in the Premier League over the coming weeks, with the competition getting underway at the Utilita Arena in Cardiff on Thursday night.
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The 17-year-old has taken the world of darts by storm, with his impressive performances at the PDC World Championship at such a young age propelling the sport into the wider public eye. On debut at the age of 16, he incredibly managed to progress all the way through to the final of the competition, beating some of his childhood heroes along the way.
The Warrington-born star was then beaten by Luke Humphries in the final but has since proved that his incredible tournament was no fluke by winning the Bahrain Masters and reaching the final of the Dutch Masters.
Numerous stars have emerged to commend Littler for his talent and conduct away from the board, and Aspinall is the latest of his Premier League rivals to heap the praise on the teenager. The 32-year-old has revealed that he believes Littler was ‘even more impressive’ than reigning world champion Michael Smith on the practice board, despite practicing with the latter regularly in the build-up to the competition.
He told the Metro: “I hope Smithy doesn’t see this, but he was a hell of a lot better than Smithy. Obviously, the practice with me and Michael was a lot better, more structured and I got a lot more out of it. But Luke Littler did things on the dartboard in my house that I’ve never seen anyone do. That’s the God’s honest truth.
"We play a game called 170. If you take 170 out you get two points, if you take it out in six darts you get one point and it’s first to six. He took four 170s out in six visits to the board. I’m good on the big fish, I never lose at that game and he absolutely tore me a new one. He’s amazing. A unique talent.”
Aspinall then went on to reveal that he believes that throwing darts is innate to Littler simply due to the age that he began to engage with the sport and he could therefore be the ‘most natural’ player that has ever competed.
He explained: “He learned darts at the age kids learn to walk and talk, when your brain is like a sponge. It’s second nature to him. I didn’t pick a dart up until I was 17, the age that Luke is now, which is mad to think. He’s the most natural dart player that there’ll probably ever be."
