Former world champion Gerwyn Price claims some darts players 'don't like' Luke Littler being around.
The teenager has sent shockwaves through the sport and is preparing to compete in the Premier League for the first time this evening.
Littler grabbed the attention of the nation earlier this year when he reached the final of the World Darts Championship final at the age of 16.
He ultimately lost to Luke Humphries in the final but has proven since that his performance was not a one-off.
Gerywn Price says other darts players 'don't like' Luke Littler being around
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Littler won his first tournament after Ally Pally, triumphing at the Bahrain Masters, before falling at the final hurdle at the Dutch Darts Masters last week.
He was picked as one of the wildcards for the Premier League, which begins in Cardiff this evening and continues for 17 consecutive Thursdays.
Price has already felt the Littler effect, losing to him in Bahrain and Den Bosch in the last two weeks.
While sitting alongside the teen, Price was asked by talkSPORT what he thought of him, jokingly replying: "Rubbish!"
Littler snapped back: "It's only because I've beaten him the last two times!"
Price then revealed that he is a big fan of Littler but admits that he is not a favourite of every player on the tour.
He said: "No honestly I think it's brilliant. You can see with the other players that, yeah, they don't like him about.
"But I love him, I think he's great for darts and how many people are watching now? So many people are interested in the sport, so fair play to him. But I'll beat him soon!"
Littler was known among the darts community before his stunning performance at Alexandra Palace.
But Price admits his rise to stardom has still taken him by surprise.
The Welshman said: "Everybody knew about Luke on the MODUS Series and winning that, and doing well in the youth and the development tour.
"So we sort of knew about him but didn't know how well he was going to do when he came into the PDC.
"And yeah, he's grabbed it with both hands and to get to a World Championship final on the first go... I thought he was going to win.
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Gerwyn Price admitted he is a big fan of Luke Littler ahead of the Premier League
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"If that double two goes in and he goes 5-2 up then it's a different story.
"It's brilliant for darts and I wish him all the best but I hope he plays rubbish against me next time!"
Price has compared Littler's emergence to that of Fallon Sherrock and says it brings nothing but positivity to the sport.
He said: "It's a bit like when Fallon Sherrock came around as well, it's just that added pressure where you really want to perform and try and get a win.
"It's those added pressures that you have to deal with and I don't think I've done that in the last two times, I haven't played well.
Gerwyn Price has compared Luke Littler's emergence to Fallon Sherrock
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"Maybe next time I'll play him I'll bring my A game and then it will be 2-1.
"He's brought more eyes onto this sport than ever before. It's a great story and he's up to over a million followers on Instagram, which I'm a little bit jealous of.
"Fair play to him, he's bringing new eyes from different directions and the sport is only going to get better and better. It's a privilege to be part of it."
