Luke Littler has told Michael van Gerwen and other darts rivals to 'get on with it' amid his rapid rise to prominence.
Few had heard of the 17-year-old just months ago but, ever since shining at the World Darts Championship, has become a household name.
Littler has dominated and generated plenty of headlines in the time since then, with the teenager currently shining in the Premier League.
Though he's yet to win a round of fixtures, he's picked up seven points so far. To put that into perspective, that's the same amount as Michael Smith - while Van Gerwen is the only man to have more.
Luke Littler has opened up with the darts star continuing to shine
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Van Gerwen has confessed to being aggrieved by some of the coverage regarding Littler and how darts fans always want the youngster to win.
And the prodigy has now told his rivals to 'get on with it', making it clear he's not too bothered by what they have to say.
"“Mike said everyone’s following me, everyone wants me to win," he told The Times.
“So they’ve just got to get on with it. If my opponent wants to think about what I’m doing, then that will mess his head up, because he’s thinking about me as well as his scores.”
Littler seems to be a darts machine, a player with a rare natural talent.
And he believes playing against grown-ups as a child helped shape him into the phenomenon he is today.
"I think it did," he said when asked if being in 'adult surroundings' accelerated his development.
“When I first joined a team, I was the youngest there, playing against men.
"But that became me, week in, week out. Widnes was one of the big competitions — 500 quid for the winner.
"All the others were £150, £160, but that was the big one and they got all these entries.
"Everyone wanted in. All men. They don’t like being beat by a kid.”
Littler then proceeds to admit that men were 'annoyed' while playing - and being beaten - by a child.
Yet he understands their issue, adding: “Mmm. But that’s OK. They shouldn’t have to change their behaviour for me.
"And darts came from the pubs.”
Littler is currently playing in the Premier League for the first time, with many other debuts set to follow while he continues to shine.
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Luke Littler has told Michael van Gerwen and other darts rivals to 'get on with it'
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And the 17-year-old believes he's learning with every match, insisting he's capable of coping with the pressure for the long term.
“All these players have been on top for many years — this is my first,” he said.
"In years to come I’ll be used to the circuit, used to going to this place, that place.
"People say you learn from your losses, so this is what I’m going to be doing now.
"Playing against these guys every week. People are going to think I’m the guy to beat but, to me, that was only what it was like on the junior darts circuit.
Luke Littler believes playing against adults has shaped him into the darts wonderkid he is today
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"Whenever I did lose, it was a big shock.
“Probably all of them have been saying to themselves, ‘I’m not getting beat by a kid here.’ But they have been.
"These players have been on top for many years. Going into this season, there’s a lot of them defending prize money, so they’ve got to get so far in a tournament just to keep their world ranking up.
"Whereas if they go out first round, they’ll drop down, and that’s how I shoot up."
