DARTS TEEN: I’D LIKE TO RETIRE IN MY 20s
Luke may only play on for 10yrs
TEENAGE darts sensation Luke Littler says he may quit the sport by the time he is 27.
Luke, 17, has been catapulted to fame due to his exploits at the PDC World Championship last month, and pundits think he could have decades at the top.
But he reckons he may not even be playing past his early-30s. He said: “I might do 10 or 15 years and retire, if I’ve had enough.”
Luke, nicknamed the Nuke, added that suddenly becoming a celebrity is weird, though he seems to be taking it in his stride.
He said: “When you go out for meals and you can hear people saying, ‘Look, it’s him – he’s over there,’ it does feel strange.
“But then people just want pictures or autographs, so it’s not too extreme.”
He said he honed his darts skills in lockdown, playing about five hours every day as there was “nothing else to do”. And he revealed he practises in bare feet.
But it seems his favourite after-match kebab is off the menu now he is a professional.
He told The Times: “Soon as I got my tour card, my manager said, ‘When you finish it could be 11 or 12, it’s all fast food’.
“So I’ve got to look after myself, eat before I play. When I’ve finished, even if I stay up to whenever, I just won’t eat. This is my new way of living.
“I love darts, and it’s going to be like this for 10, 15 years.”
He says he has bought a travel Xbox to keep him entertained.
During the World Championship he missed his Xbox, which he left at home in Warrington, Cheshire, as he did not expect to get so far in the tournament.
He reached the final, scooping £200,000 in prize money. He was only 16 at the time.