Nathan Aspinall has made a surprise claim about Luke Littler ahead of the Premier League Darts Finals Night in London.
The top four players from the group stage will compete in a straight knockout format at the O2 Arena on Thursday.
Littler and Aspinall, who finished in first and third positions in the group, have both qualified, as well as second-placed Luke Humphries and Gerwyn Price in fourth.
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While three players had already guaranteed their spots ahead of week 16 in Sheffield, Aspinall secured his path to London by defeating Michael van Gerwen in the quarter-final.
That victory, coupled with Price's loss to Chris Dobey, guaranteed that the Stockport-born dartist would be facing Humphries in the semi-final rather than Littler - who he hasn't beaten in 11 matches.
The pair are friends off the oche and share the same management group, along with Dobey.
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At 18 years old, reigning world champion Littler will be defending the Premier League crown which he won for the first time last year.
Unsurprisingly, he has been tipped to dominate the sport for many years to come as a once-in-a-generation talent.
But in an interview with talkSPORT, Aspinall made a concerning claim about Littler after just 18 months on the PDC main tour.
When asked by presenter Andy Goldstein about whether Littler could beat Phil Taylor's record of 16 world titles, 'The Asp' replied: "No. I think he'll be off in about five years!
"He's 18, isn't he? He does a lot of YouTube and stuff like that. He's mates with Angryginge. I can see him going that down path, in my opinion.
"He's already getting fed up of playing and travelling all the time, and he's only been doing it for 12 months.
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"So I don't think he'll be around 16 years, let alone winning 16 world titles. If he does, fair play to him - but I can't see it."
The comments were later put to Littler by Metro - with the world champion giving an emphatic response.
"I've heard that - I don't know where he's got that from," Littler said. "Don't worry, I'll be here in 10 years.
"It's crazy to even think about retiring. If I win 16 world titles like Phil, I'll retire, but I'm not even thinking about retirement at the minute.
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"The money is there to be won, especially the World Championship, but not only that, everything has gone up.
"It is all about what you're feeling and I'm sure I'll be here for a long time."
Topics: Luke Littler, Darts
Ryan Smart