Phil Taylor has warned Luke Littler he’ll want endurance if he’s to surpass his world title report.
‘The Nuke’ suffered disappointment in his bid to land back-to-back Premier League Darts titles, dropping out 11-8 to Luke Humphries within the ultimate at London’s O2 Enviornment on Thursday.
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A second competitors crown would have seen Littler be part of Michael van Gerwen and Taylor as the one gamers to win two consecutive titles.
Regardless of failing to hitch ‘The Energy’ within the report books on this event nonetheless, the 18-year-old has already made loads of historical past since bursting onto the scene on the PDC World Championship in 2023.
After his gorgeous run to the ultimate of the Alexandra Palace showpiece as a 16-year-old, Littler adopted that up by turning into the youngest darts world champion with victory within the event in January.
The teenage sensation’s fast rise has seen extensively tipped to surpass Taylor’s all-time report of 16 world titles.
And whereas Littler would seem to have loads of time on his facet to meet up with the sporting nice, his possibilities of doing so had been not too long ago known as into query by fellow star Nathan Aspinall.
Chatting with talkSPORT, ‘The Asp’ solid doubt over his future, claiming he felt the world champion may ‘be off in about 5 years’.
Littler rapidly shut down this suggestion by reassuring followers he would nonetheless be enjoying in ten years time, and insisted he would solely retire if he managed to meet up with Taylor’s unmatched feat.
However Taylor has now issued a warning to Littler if he’s to overhaul him within the historical past books, insisting he must keep on the high of the game for properly over ten years.
Showing on talkSPORT’s Hawksbee and Jacobs, the darts icon mentioned jokingly of the teenager’s pursuit of his report: “I am going to have him finished for that, I’ve obtained some ugly associates now!
“If he desires to hold on and win, beat my data, then he’ll must be devoted. And I imply devoted for at the very least 25 years.”
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It is truthful to say Taylor set a excessive bar as regards to longevity in darts.
The Stoke-born star loved a 31-year skilled profession between 1987 and 2018, which noticed him win two BDO world titles in 1990 and 1992, earlier than triumphing on the PDC World Championship on 14 events between 1995 and 2013.
And whereas he insisted Littler should be devoted as a way to problem his report, Taylor admitted the starlet may decide to make a residing off social media as an alternative if he wished to.
Littler has already featured in a number of common YouTube movies, together with one which noticed him virtually lose to social media star Angryginge in a sport of darts in February.
The Warrington native additionally boasts 1.9 million Instagram followers – almost double that of Van Gerwen, Luke Humphries and Gerwyn Worth mixed.
On this, Taylor remarked: “If he will get the fitting recommendation and the fitting individual taking care of him, then he may do different issues, like social media.
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” Some folks make thousands and thousands out of it.”
And whereas Littler just isn’t in need of choices on how greatest to make a residing, his future for now’s firmly mounted on darts.
The teenager has been confirmed to signify England within the 2025 World Cup of Darts, the place he’ll put his rivalry with Premier League winner Humphries apart because the pair workforce up on the world stage.
The showpiece occasion will run for 4 days between June 12 and 15, and can happen in Frankfurt, Germany.