Three years ago in Kerry, Luke Littler's darts genius was obvious
Adam Dee and Luke Littler.
Chris Curran wasn’t buying it. The ‘kid’ standing in front of him at the INEC Arena in Killarney back in November of 2021 was telling him he was only 14 years of age. He looked well north of 18 if he was a day.
Everyone knows Luke Littler now. Thousands of punters will cram into Dublin’s 3Arena on Wednesday evening to see the 17-year old take to the stage for the latest leg of the Premier League Darts roadshow. Back then there were only whispers of his talent to go on.
He was more rumour than reality.
It was only when Littler produced his passport that Curran, tournament director for that year’s World Darts Federation Irish Open Youth event, accepted what his eyes couldn’t compute and even then the confusion wasn’t done.
The English phenom was already making a name for himself with a couple of runs deep into the Welsh and British Opens the month before. His progress deep into the senior Irish Open that weekend left him late to the oche for a youths semi-final.
“I was walking to the main hall and there was Luke coming over. I said he should be struck out of the tournament,” said Curran.
“The answer I got was: ‘It’s not my fault if I’m that good and I’m still in the senior event’. You knew straight away this lad was special.”
Littler proved it by beating Northern Ireland’s Barry Copeland 6-2 in legs in the men’s decider - weeks later he knocked off a nine-darter in a junior event - but there was no ‘double’ in Killarney. Carlow’s Adam Dee had already had his number in the underage final.
If the win against Copeland was Littler’s first big title then the same can be said for Dee and it has obviously grown in import given his opponent’s trajectory since. Looking back now, Dee takes even more satisfaction from the fact that he brought his A-game.
He had beaten Littler before, and would again, but he entered the hall that day to his walk-on song of ‘I Am The One And Only’ by Chesney Hawkes, recorded an impressive three-dart average and pulled through thanks to his work on the doubles.
“It was a great experience. The weird thing is that I didn’t even feel nervous. I was actually more nervous in the semi-final because I was playing a good friend of mine, Robbie Curran. I knew how good [Littler] was but I knew how good I was as well.”
Dee is 18 months older of the two and his own journey has already taken in some key staging posts. There was a runner-up place at the WDF Boys World Championship at Lakeside in December, and he is making his way through the PDC’s Development tour.
Last weekend brought wins in both the singles and the doubles (with Curran) at the International WDF Youth Challenge in Vienna. The immediate intention is to move up in the Irish rankings and earn a place in the Irish senior team.
“I know from that experience [in Killarney] and other tournaments that I can do what’s required. It’s all about confidence. That’s one of, if not the biggest, thing. I know I’m progressing every year. It’s not about shooting for the stars.”
Only the very few, the once-in-a-generation types, get to aim that high that quickly. Even Littler overshot all expectations and established norms by making the final of the PDC Worlds at the Alexandra Palace aged 16.
Elevation onto the Premier League roster was a given. He has won the Bahrain Masters and the Belgian Open and broken countless ‘youngest ever’ records. And he has created a landslide of interest in a game that has always been niche.
There were 245 kids from 37 teams and 19 counties at the Youth All-Irelands in Ballinasloe earlier this month. Those are huge numbers. Curran runs the Kerry Youth Darts Academy in Listowel and he has seen how interest has bubbled in 2024.
From a count of ten or 12 kids through his doors pre-Covid it has now tripled to 34 every Friday. Dee sees similar. He was one of just two kids on board when Paddy Cullen started Carlow Youth Darts a few years back. There are 40 now.
“It’s massive,” said Dee. “You see it in lots of places. There are people interested in darts who were never interested in it before, and not even just kids. You see it with adults as well. It’s been great for the game.”
Ireland’s women’s team became world champions last September. Players like Keane Barry, William O’Connor and Steve Lennon are making inroads at senior level, there is an amateur darts circuit and academies in various corners of the country.
“The sport here is definitely on the way up,” said Curran, who doubles up as PRO for the Irish National Darts Organisation (INDO).
“We’re not recognised as a sport in Ireland because of the drinking terminology and the smoking and all that back in the day but it has gone so advanced now and the youths are in a different room to the adults.
“Major tournaments have no alcohol allowed on the players’ tables. You can’t have alcohol on stage or the table behind you. Darts is totally transformed from the days when Jocky Wilson and Eric Bristow with the fag hanging out of the mouth.”
The ‘Luke Littler Effect’ has been transformative with appearances on the Jonathan Ross Show and the BBC’s Red Nose programme examples of his breakout appeal. Such is the demand that his diary is being filled week to week. Planning beyond that is impossible.
LUKE LITTLER HITS A NINE-DARTER! 🚨
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) January 19, 2024
More history from the 16-year-old sensation!!! 🌟 pic.twitter.com/o23C5P6AqL
Almost five million people watched him take on Luke Humphries in the PDC World final at the start of the year. Sky confirmed it was the most watched darts programme they ever aired and Littler’s reach is being mirrored on social media.
The Flashscore website worked out that he outperformed all the usual sports stars over the period of the competition at the Ally Pally. Liverpool’s Mohammad Salah came in a distant second in one comparison. That’s just bonkers given the profile of the two sports.
As a teenager from an unfashionable part of northern England who still lives at home and spends his winnings on Fifa game packs, his appeal is obvious. This is a kid who was offered free kebabs for life by a local takeaway in Warrington.
The only worry is that all this could be too much too soon. Curran isn’t alone in voicing that concern though he is soothed by the fact that the teenager seems to be surrounded by a good team of people who know what they are doing.
To a point, maybe. This is new ground for everyone.
Phil Taylor won 16 world championships and Dee describes Littler as ‘Taylor-esque’, a player with an incredible board management and a cast-iron mentality. Curran sees a beautifully natural throw allied to a gift for maths that sets him apart.
Yep, maths.
“A player can score 180s and whatever but if you can’t count… He competed a while back when he had 111 left and he went bull-eleven-bull. That’s not the normal way a player would go for that. He has that confidence and aura about him. Nothing phases him.
“He is subtracting in his head after his first three darts to get down to the 170 finish. You can be a good darts player and hit 180s for fun and finish 170s and so on, but if you can’t subtract in darts you are at a loss. He has it all.”
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