Luke Littler has issued a statement after being spotted in the Manchester United away for a 4-1 win at Wolves days before the World Darts Championship. Tottenham player James Maddison, acting as a pundit for the night, revealed on Sky Sports’ coverage of the match that he had exchanged text messages with Littler before the game and that the darts world champion would be in attendance among the United fans.
Sky Sports cameras then spotted Littler among the United fans as they celebrated a comfortable victory. Despite Jean-Ric Bellegarde cancelling out Bruno Fernandes‘ opener, Bryan Mbeumo and Mason Mount scored to put United in control before Fernandes killed the match off with a second from the penalty spot. The win lifts United just one point behind the Champions League places. Some were surprised to see Littler at the Premier League match given the World Championship starts this week and the teenager will play at Alexandra Palace on Thursday.
And Littler posted on social media: “First away day, what a result, chill for few days now then onto the world championship thursday.” World No.1 Littler will begin the defence of his world title against Darius Labanauskas on Thursday night.
The defending champion will play in one of four matches on the opening night of the expanded 128-player tournament. No player has defended the World Championship in a decade and Littler has made it clear that’s his goal.
Speaking after the draw pitted him against Lithuanian Labanauskas, Littler said to Sky Sports: “Defending is different. I have won the last few majors and now the big one is around the corner.
“Gary Anderson was the last person to go back-to-back and that was 10 years ago. I’ll try to go back-to-back. Only three people have ever done it, the last time was 10 years ago. So I want to go back-to-back.
“I am very happy with the draw, he’s not the quickest player in the world, but it’s all about getting past the first round. It won’t be easy, but I just have to try and get past the first round.
“If there is nerves I will know how to cope, I didn’t have a clue last year, but this year I know what to expect.”
Another man plotting Littler’s downfall is world No.2 Luke Humphries. He would move back to the top of the rankings by lifting the Sid Waddell Trophy for a second time at Ally Pally.
“The last two years I’ve been world No.1 and now I’m world No.2,” said Humphries. “It’s up to me to find the hunger to want to challenge him – take that number one spot back.
“I knew if I didn’t win the Worlds this year I wouldn’t be world No.1 anyway so I knew that was going to be the case. Not really much has changed. If I win the Worlds I could still become world No;1 again but if I don’t I’m going to have to fight hard and work harder. It will make me a better player but it’s a new chapter in my career.
“I’m going to work hard to get it back. I’m not going to let him keep it forever.”