Luke Humphries believes he and Luke Littler could leave their fellow darts players behind in the years to come.
The world champion is predicting a 20-year rivalry with the young star following their blistering starts to 2024.
Humphries won the World Championship at Alexandra Palace on January 3, beating Littler 7-4 in the final.
Littler had broken several records on his run at Ally Pally, toppling former champs Raymond van Barneveld and Rob Cross at the age of 16.
Luke Humphries believes he and Luke Littler could have a 20-year rivalry
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He won his next tournament at the Bahrain Masters after earlier hitting a nine-darter in the quarter-final.
Littler beat Humphries at the Dutch Masters last week but lost in the final to three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen.
Humphries and Littler will meet on the first night of the Premier League in Cardiff on Thursday.
The world No 1 believes they will be battling it out on the oche for the next two decades at least.
And Humphries has warned other players that the duo could pull away from the rest if they don't up their game.
He told Sky Sports: "I feel that there's many, many more major tournament finals for us to play against each other.
"I feel like we've both showed a lot of determination over the last couple of years, him especially over the last couple of months.
"He's an exciting talent, I still feel like I'm young myself. I could have another 20 years left in this sport, he's certainly got another 20 years left.
"I feel like it's going to be a healthy rivalry, I think we've both got massive potential.
"I feel like I can get better, I think Luke will keep getting better, and if everyone behind us doesn't get better themselves then we will be the two to take the sport forward.
"But I think there will be a lot more other players to have a lot to say about that.
"But yeah I do think this is a massive healthy rivalry between me and Luke in the future years."
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Luke Humphries beat Luke Littler in the World Darts Championship final earlier this month
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Littler dominated media coverage throughout the World Championship and the weeks that have followed.
But Humphries insists that has not affected him at all, stating: "My dream wasn’t for everybody to go crazy about me - it was to be world champion, and I’ve fulfilled that dream.
"A lot of people think it bothers me (that Littler gets all the attention) but it doesn’t. I’ve achieved the dream, and whatever comes with that, it doesn’t matter.
“Nothing will ever take that world title away from me, but Luke’s the star of the show at the moment and that’s just the way it is.
Luke Humphries is predicting a big future for him and Luke Littler
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"It’s important that all of the players look after him and no one takes advantage of him or use him too much, because that will happen in life - people will want to use him because of his popularity and stature.
"But all the players will look after him and make sure none of that happens.
"He’s a great kid and he’s got a bright future - and so have I.”
