15-year-old wonderkid tipped to become Luke Littler's biggest rival after making darts history

Former darts professional Paul Nicholson has named a player who could stop Luke Littler's dominance - and he isn't currently playing on the PDC Tour.

'The Nuke' has proved an unstoppable force since bursting onto the scene at the 2024 World Championship two and a half years ago, with no other player able to match his relentless consistency.

During that time, Littler has won an incredible 14 PDC majors, with only Michael van Gerwen and Phil Taylor boasting more major titles to their name.

Littler's latest triumph came at the World Matchplay in Blackpool at the end of July, beating Gerwyn Price 18-9 in the final, as the 19-year-old somehow took his already world-class performances to an even higher level.

The Warrington-born superstar recorded an eye-watering 111.04 average across the tournament and, unsurprisingly, broke his own record for most 180s to continue his clean sweep of majors in 2026.

The teenager has triumphed in every major televised event, including the World Championship, Premier League, World Matchplay, UK Open, World Masters and the World Cup of Darts, returning to action on Tuesday after a well-earned break from the oche.

Littler will make his first appearance at Players Championship 27 and 28 in Leicester as he aims to qualify for the finals in November.

Mitchell Lawrie tipped to rival Luke Littler in the future

Speaking ahead of the event, former PDC professional Paul Nicholson has discussed who could potentially halt his dominance.

Littler is operating on a different planet to everyone else, and not even the best players in the sport - including Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen, Gerwyn Price and Michael van Gerwen - can come close to stopping the darting phenom.

Nicholson even agrees that none of the above can challenge his dominance, instead suggesting that youngster Mitchell Lawrie is a 'future star' who could become his biggest rival.

"Now there’s plenty of potential stars out there but the one we’re getting most excited about is Mitchell Lawrie," he wrote in his Sporting Life column.

"At the age of 15, he’s already the WDF number 1, he wins pretty much wherever he goes and has already made a Lakeside final, which is something Littler didn't do.

"Littler played at the 2022 Lakeside Championship and lost – albeit to Richard Veenstra’s Lakeside record average – whereas Lawrie got all the way to the final before losing to Jimmy van Schie.

"We knew back then Littler was an extremely promising young player but I doubt anyone thought that within 18 months he'd be the most talked about player in the world.

"So if Mitchell Lawrie is on the same roadmap as Littler, then we’re in for a spectacular rivalry in the coming few years."

Lawrie made headlines in December last year when he became the first teenager in history to reach the WDF World Championship final, only dropping one set in his previous matches.

The 15-year-old has since become the youngest WDF number one after adding the British Open, Irish Classic, and Welsh Open to his JDC world title at Alexandra Palace.

The Scot, who is eligible for the Development Tour next year, even went viral in March after hitting a nine-darter on the JDC Advanced Tour as he continued to showcase his talents.

Therefore, it is clear why Lawrie is being tipped to rival Littler in the years to come.