Luke Littler tipped to turn pro in career away from darts

Darts legend Steve Beaton has tipped Luke Littler to potentially make a career switch away from the sport.

Littler, who is darts’ World No.1 and reigning world champion, is already considered one of the greatest ever seen at just 19 years old.

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However, he has spoken openly about the future of his career, with the teenager expected to keep playing if there’s ‘fire in his belly’.

The sensation has admitted that he wants to win every darts major before retiring from the sport – and he is already only one away from doing so just two years into his PDC career.

He has also said that once that ‘fire in the belly’ goes, there’s ‘no point in playing’, hinting at when he may end up quitting.

And Beaton believes that Littler could end up pursuing other passions sooner rather than later to become a professional elsewhere.

“It’s early days yet in his career, but he’s such a good player,” the former BDO World Champion told Sun Sport. “He just sees all these different ways of throwing.

“At the end of the day, you can only hit 9, 12 or 15 darts. Sometimes you can be left with a couple of darts in your hand.

“But he’s very consistent. Okay, he might lose the odd one, but I mean, nobody’s perfect.

“It’s going to be interesting to see how long he goes on for. Maybe after four or five years, he will have had enough.

“Maybe he will want to go gaming, you know. He likes doing all that.

“Maybe somebody will approach him to do that or something else.”

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Littler is an avid gamer, regularly streaming himself playing games such as FC (formerly known as FIFA) with friends.

He is good friends with YouTube and streamer Angry Ginge, who also regularly plays video games online.

Darts minds think alike

Beaton’s prediction for Littler’s future in darts, or lack of, is one that echoes the thoughts of Nathan Aspinall.

Speaking last year, the world No.15 told talkSPORT that he thinks his rival will retire from the sport in the next five years too.

And Aspinall also tipped a career switch to gaming or YouTube, saying: “I think he’ll be off in about five years.

“He’s 18. He does a lot on YouTube, he’s good mates with Angry Ginge.

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“I can see him going down that path, in my opinion.

“He’s already getting fed up with playing and travelling all the time, and he’s only been doing it for 12 months.

“I don’t think he’ll be around for 16 years, let alone winning 16 world titles. If he does, fair play to him. But I can’t see it.”