The young bearded man in the purple polo shirt is no longer the virtual unknown who, at the age of 16 and to everyone’s surprise, was invited to the previous final, last year at the same place. At the time, the teenager had only played a handful of professional matches and was ranked only 164th in the world in the pub fetish discipline, mainly followed in the Anglo-Saxon world. From now on, Littler shares TV sets with Hollywood film stars and his prowess is scrutinized, dissected and highlighted by Sky Sports, delighted by the exposure brought by such a phenomenon. Just a year ago, his final against Luke Humphries was the most-watched sporting event, outside of football, in the English broadcaster’s 34-year history, with 4.8 million viewers. And the next day, the press only had eyes for Luke “The Nuke”, despite the defeat.
With his skill and precision, the young shooter from the north of England amazed the aficionados of these crazy and abundantly alcoholic tournaments. When the United Kingdom discovered him at the beginning of 2024, he had also created a sensation with his humor and his frankness, revealing a way of life the antithesis of that of a professional athlete. “I don’t get up until noon, I eat my cheese and ham omelette, then a pizza and I work out”between two games of video games, he said. The champion threw his first dart at the age of 18 months and videos filmed by his family show him playing while in a diaper.
