{"id":135576,"date":"2023-12-29T15:33:46","date_gmt":"2023-12-29T15:33:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/29\/the-teen-sensation-lighting-up-the-pdc-world-championship\/"},"modified":"2023-12-29T15:33:46","modified_gmt":"2023-12-29T15:33:46","slug":"the-teen-sensation-lighting-up-the-pdc-world-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/29\/the-teen-sensation-lighting-up-the-pdc-world-championship\/","title":{"rendered":"The teen sensation lighting up the PDC World Championship \u2013"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The festive period is delivering its traditional feast of darts action \u2014 and the sport looks to have a new superstar on its hands.<\/p>\n
Luke Littler, a 16-year-old debutant, is the name on everybody\u2019s lips after winning his first three matches of this year\u2019s PDC World Championship in remarkable fashion.<\/p>\n
We round up everything you need to know about the teenage sensation.<\/p>\n
Who is Luke Littler?<\/h2>\n
Littler is a darts player from Warrington in Cheshire, who has amassed a burgeoning reputation thanks to his impressive exploits on the sport\u2019s junior scene.<\/p>\n
He went viral in 2021 when hitting a nine-dart leg during a youth event in Gibraltar aged just 14 and his fledgling career has been on a steep upward curve ever since.<\/p>\n
Now, the youngster has started to make national headlines. First by winning the World Youth Championship in November, before his exceptional exploits at Alexandra Palace.<\/p>\n
Littler averaged 102.6 to stun the highly-rated Gian van Veen on his big stage debut and has shown that to be no flash in the pan in London by cruising into the tournament\u2019s last 16 stage.<\/p>\n
Read more: All the latest sports news<\/p>\n
Why are Littler\u2019s exploits so impressive?<\/h2>\n
Plenty have made a strong impression on their professional bow over the years but Littler\u2019s emergence has been truly special.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Playing his first senior PDC match in the sport\u2019s biggest tournament, Littler dismantled former BDO World Champion Christian Kist 3-0 averaging 106.2 \u2014 the best performance of the entire first round by a distance.<\/p>\n
With a media circus quickly gathering, Littler returned a day later to dump out UK Open champion Andrew Gilding 3-1 and was equally devastating in brushing aside Canadian Matt Campbell 4-1 in the last 32.<\/p>\n
Littler is now just four games away from becoming world champion and completing what would unquestionably be one of the biggest fairytales in sporting history.<\/p>\n
Can Littler win the 2024 PDC World Championship?<\/h2>\nLuke Littler has quickly become the main focus at this year\u2019s PDC World Championship<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Should Littler keep up his current level of performance, he holds a genuine chance of being crowned the youngest ever PDC World Championship winner next week.<\/p>\n
However, the youngster\u2019s toughest tasks are still very much to come, starting with his last-16 tie against either the legendary Raymond van Barneveld or dangerous Welshman Jim Williams.<\/p>\n
Should he progress to the quarter-finals, he would likely face another former winner in Gary Anderson before potentially clashing with reigning champion Michael Smith in the semis.<\/p>\n
If Littler is still standing come January 3, one of Michael van Gerwen or Luke Humphries would probably offer up the sternest of resistance in the final.<\/p>\n
It is an ominous run of opponents but Littler is showing nothing to be impossible.<\/p>\n
Read more: All the latest transfer news<\/p>\n
When does Littler play next?<\/h2>\n
Littler\u2019s last 16 clash with either Van Barneveld or Williams will take place on Saturday, December 30 during the afternoon session.<\/p>\n
The tournament then takes a one day break on New Year\u2019s Eve before the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final are played across three consecutive days on January 1, 2 and 3 respectively.<\/p>\n
![\"Luke](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/3843fa12-d245-4385-895e-2aafe3831ac2.jpg\")