Luke Littler must 'be put in his place' as darts rivals told how to trouble teenage sensation

Luke Littler must 'be put in his place' as darts rivals told how to trouble teenage sensation

WATCH NOW: Luke Littler reacts to hitting a nine-darter at the Bahrain Masters

Lewis Winter

By Lewis Winter


Published: 26/01/2024

- 18:23

Updated: 26/01/2024

- 20:44

The 17-year-old has not shown any signs of being affected by the big stage

Luke Littler's rivals must 'get in his face' to see if it will faze him on the oche, according to former darts star Chris Mason.

Mason is keen to see how the teenager would deal with being 'put in his place' after an incredible rise to stardom.


Littler won his first professional title at the Bahrain Masters last week, beating Michael van Gerwen in the final.

He is back in action on Friday at the Dutch Masters, where he takes on Dirk van Duijvenbode in the first round.

Luke Littler

Darts stars have been told to 'get in the face' of Luke Littler

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Mason is looking forward to seeing the 17-year-old in action in Den Bosch and believes he is the player to beat.

But he would like to see his fellow professionals attempt to unrest him if they meet him in the latter stages of the tournament.

Asked who he was keen to see play, Mason said on ITV 4: "Luke Littler again. I want to see what he does next.

"Since December 1 to this point now, statistically he's the best player in world darts. That's not an opinion, the numbers tell us that.

"It's up to the players now to try and put him in his place and that's what I want to see.

"I want to see a Gerwyn Price on full chat giving it the full beans and getting in his face. I want to see how he deals with it. He's 17 years old now, he's not a boy anymore!"

Littler won the hearts of the nation with his record-breaking run to the final of the World Darts Championship.

But Mason had followed his career before the tournament and was not surprised that he went so far at Ally Pally.

He said: "What an incredible 12 months. Back-to-back titles down in the Super Series, rolls into the Worlds.

"I had him down to at least make the quarter-final, once I'd seen that Gary Anderson had gone and Price had gone, and the way he dealt with [Raymond] van Barneveld... listen he was double two away from having Luke Humphries in a world of trouble and potentially going on and winning the title.

"On the back of those performances, I had him as a top 10 player. That was cemented with the way he won in Bahrain. He was irresistible.

"The nine-darter, ticked. The 170, ticked. Beating MVG in a final, ticked. Is there anything this lad can't do?"

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Luke Littler

Luke Littler has not been affected by his rise to darts stardom yet

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Mason says Littler has always had the ability to become a top professional player.

However, he questioned whether he would be able to do it over longer distance matches.

Mason admits he has already given an emphatic answer, adding: "I knew he had the ability, he was knocking in averages like 109, 107, 117. Over a short course, so that was where there was a short question mark.

"How he was going to deal with someone with a 105 average against him, or a 110 average? How was he going to deal with the expectations he has now on his shoulders?

Luke Littler

Luke Littler has been able to block out media attention and focus on his darts

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"He keeps ticking boxes. He's in that beautiful position where he's young, he's ambitious, he relishes getting up on that stage playing against the big stars.

"Even though he's one of them now himself, if not right now the biggest star."

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