Luke Littler sets out shock retirement plan which his rivals will love

Luke Littler has already revealed when he plans to retire.

Littler became a national sensation when he reached the final of January’s PDC World Darts Championship on his tournament debut at just 16.

Despite losing the final 7-4 to Luke Humphries at Alexandra Palace, the teenager has continued making waves in the darts world, beating Michael van Gerwen to win the Bahrain Masters later that month.

The whirlwind introduction to senior darts continued as he went on to beat Humphries in the semi-finals of the Dutch Masters and make his Premier League bow.

Littler, who celebrated his 17th birthday in January, has so far earned around £250,000 in prize money in 2024, while also forming lucrative partnerships with Target Darts and fashion retailer boohooMAN.

The Darts prodigy’s career is only just getting started, but that hasn’t stopped him from looking ahead to retirement.

During an interview with The Times, it was put to Littler that his final appearance at the World Championships would be in 2065 should he continue until he is the same age as Phil Taylor.

Littler replied: “I’ve been playing a long time in the juniors, in the old British Darts Federation.

“I might just do ten or fifteen years and retire if I’ve had enough.”

That means Littler could bow out of Darts at just 27.

But for now, he admitted he was enjoying playing against and learning from his contemporaries.

Littler has made waves in the world of darts (Getty)

“All these players have been on top for many years — this is my first,” he said. “In years to come, I’ll be used to the circuit, used to going to this place, that place.

“People say you learn from your losses, so this is what I’m going to be doing now. Playing against these guys every week. People are going to think I’m the guy to beat but, to me, that was only what it was like on the junior darts circuit. Whenever I did lose, it was a big shock.

“Probably all of them have been saying to themselves, ‘I’m not getting beat by a kid here.’ But they have been. These players have been on top for many years.

“Going into this season, there’s a lot of them defending prize money, so they’ve got to get so far in a tournament just to keep their world ranking up.

“Whereas if they go out first round, they’ll drop down, and that’s how I shoot up.”

Topics: Luke Littler, Darts

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.