Luke Littler has responded to the backlash over his decision in the World Youth Championship just days after winning the World Grand Prix.
On Sunday, Littler claimed his seventh TV title with a 6-1 trouncing of Luke Humphries in Leicester, pocked £120,000 in prize money and moved closer to the No.1 world ranking.
After his triumph, 'The Nuke' surprised fans by announcing he would compete in the World Youth Championship event and "just have a bit of fun" at the showpiece in Wigan.
He won the tournament in 2023 and remained eligible because there is no ranking restrictions and he is in the 16 and 23 age bracket.
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Despite being the overwhelming favourite, Littler was defeated 6-5 in a thrilling semi-final against 21-year-old Beau Greaves - who will now take on reigning champion Gian van Veen in the final at Minehead on November 23.
He praised the women's No.1 but after winning the first Players Championship title of the year on Wednesday, Littler addressed some of the criticism he received for playing in the tournament.
Littler responds to World Youth Championship criticism
"The likes of Gian van Veen, tour holder, Keane Barry, tour car holder - but I'm the one who gets it in the neck," he said in an interview with the PDC.
"I didn't win so obviously a lot of people were happy."
The result didn't go Littler's way and he was then defeated by Ritchie Edhouse in Players Championship 31.
But he bounced back in Wigan by winning the Players Championship 32 title, knocking off Dennie Olde Kalter 8-2 to secure qualification for the Finals in Minehead.
The win put him 34th in the standings after initially being placed out of the top 64 players in the Players Championship Order of Merit, who qualify automatically.
Littler, who reacted with a post captioned “pressure… what pressure" - will pocket £120,000 if he goes all the way in Minehead and would jump above Humphries as the No.1 ranked player in the PDC Order of Merit.
As it stands Littler is £57,750 behind Humphries with a whopping £1,680,500 prize money collected.
He recently ended his association with management company ZXF Sports, who had been with him since 2020.
After a statement confirming the news, Littler announced he would be fully represented by his darts supplier Target Darts, explaining: "Target have been with me from the start and proud to have them managing me now. Onwards with the best brand in the game."
Topics: Luke Littler, Darts, World Darts Championship
Josh Lawless