Michael van Gerwen has sent a warning to Luke Littler ahead of this year's World Darts Championship, mentioning that life could change in the future when the teenager starts to "face real life".
Littler, who made history in January by becoming the youngest ever world champion, will begin his title defence on Thursday against former quarter-finalist Darius Labanauskas.
The 18-year-old is bidding to emulate Phil Taylor, Gary Anderson and Adrian Lewis by becoming only the fourth player to retain the Sid Waddell Trophy.
Michael van Gerwen, a three-time world champion, will face Japanese debutant Mitsuhiko Tatsunami in his opening game of the tournament as he looks to bounce back from his 7-3 defeat to Littler in the 2025 final.
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It has been a difficult year for the Dutchman, both on and off the oche. In fact, he said back in October that he was going through the toughest time of his life.
Amid his poor form with the arrows, he has been through a divorce with the mother of his two children, Daphne.
His dad, Henri, has also been fighting a battle with cancer.
Speaking candidly to The Guardian ahead of his opener against Tatsunami, Van Gerwen was asked if his recent personal trauma has changed him.
“A lot,” he said. “Maybe it’s better to say it has not changed me as a person – but it has changed my way of thinking."
“It has made me understand what’s most important in life," he continued. "It has to be family. Of course I love darts but I love my kids much more."
Van Gerwen added: "Before, when I didn’t have kids, it was easier. Darts was always my number one. Then, when I had kids, darts was not my number one any more. You have to try to balance things a little better.”
On the subject of life away from darts, the 36-year-old sent a word of warning to Littler.
"He lives with his mum and everything is easy for him," Van Gerwen said. "He doesn’t have a family [of his own]. He has no responsibilities. Everything’s fine. But when you start to face real life then things are changing. You have to deal with new things in life then."
Van Gerwen added: "It’s not going to be smooth for the rest of his life.”
After it was pointed out that the demands on Littler will only increase as time goes on, Van Gerwen agreed. “Yeah. I want to see when he has kids. How he’s going to deal with that.”
The Dutchman did give Littler some kudos as he praised his impact on darts as a whole.
“Darts is in a really good place at the moment,” he said. “Social media is bigger than ever. The television coverage is good. So [Littler] does really well for himself and can play himself into financial independence in the next few years. He also did well for darts so far.”
Topics: Darts, Luke Littler, Michael van Gerwen, World Darts Championship
Jack Kenmare