Teenage darts sensation fires cheeky dig at his hero Gary Anderson

Teenage darts star Mitchell Lawrie aimed a cheeky dig at Gary Anderson following his dream start at the WDF World Championships.

The 15-year-old made headlines on Sunday night after sealing victory on his debut to become the youngest ever winner at Lakeside.

Lawrie surpassed the record set by Luke Littler in 2022 by overcoming Japan’s Tomoya Maruyama.

The starlet claimed victory with his second 145 checkout of the match while averaging 90 throughout the showdown.

The win sees the young Scot sail through to the last 32 where he will face American Jason Brandon on Tuesday.

Cheeky jibe at his hero

Lawrie was asked to sum up his feelings following the victory and gave a mention – albeit a cheeky one – to his idol and fellow Scotsman Anderson.

“I’ve always said the first round’s the hardest one to get by, and now that I’m by that, it’s just a free hit,” Lawrie told the WDF.

“I’m buzzing, to be honest. I just can’t wait to get back up on that stage on Wednesday.

“I’ve done better than Gary Anderson anyway, so I’ve done better than my hero — so I’ll take that.

“When I left 145 again, I had a chuckle to myself, and then when I saw it go in, I just ran over to my family.

“The photographer’s not happy with me because he’s on the left side, but it just felt right.”

Lawrie is the next teenage prodigy aiming to take darts by storm in the coming years.

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It follows Littler’s incredible rise to superstardom since his breakout performances at the 2024 World Championships where he reached the final.

The world No.1 is preparing to defend his world title later this month but that hasn’t prevented him from keeping one eye on the emerging Lawrie.

“He’s a very, very good player at such a young age like myself,” Littler said. “Obviously, I think about my record for winning a WDF Open.

“So that’s another one he has taken off me, but he’s a very good player.

“It is crazy. He’s got to wait years for the Development Tour. But for now, he’s just got to keep at it because he’s got to wait.

“But there’s plenty of opportunities out there for now for tournaments to go and win.”

AFP

Record breaker

Lawrie’s win at Lakeside is not the only record he has taken from Littler.

The 15-year-old took Littler’s record two weeks ago when he became the youngest player to win three senior men’s titles.

His wins at the British Open, Welsh Open and Irish classic came while aged just 15 years and four days.