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Luke Littler's nine-word message to his mum ahead of Raymond van Barneveld showdown

Luke Littler's nine-word message to his mum ahead of Raymond van Barneveld showdown

Littler takes on Raymond van Barneveld tonight.

Luke Littler sent a nine-word message to his mother after it was confirmed that he would be playing Raymond van Barneveld in the PDC World Darts Championship.

The 16-year-old has so far won three matches at the Alexandra Palace this year.

He produced a confident display to brush aside one-time BDO champion Christian Kist in round one, averaging 106 in a 3-0 whitewash.

He then defeated defending UK Open champion Andrew Gilding in round two, edging a tense encounter 3-1.

But perhaps his most impressive performance to date came in the third round, when he averaged 97 in beating Matt Campbell - who managed to knock out James Wade - by four sets to one.

His next test is to come up against five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld, whose most recent worlds success came at the final staging at the tournament at the Circus Tavern in 2007.

The 56-year-old, who made a comeback to the professional tour in 2021 after previously retiring from the sport, defeated Phil Taylor in a sudden death leg in one of the sport's greatest finals.

And Littler, who has dubbed Van Barneveld and Taylor as two of his darting idols, had a refreshingly mature outlook on his upcoming showdown against the Dutchman.

His mother, Lisa, revealed in an interview with Sky Sports: "We've spoken about this. Luke said, win or lose, he's played Barney on that stage.

"He'd love to win, of course. But I said, win or lose, look at where you've got to."

Littler has already guaranteed himself a two-year tour card for the next two seasons, by virtue of finishing second on the Order of Merit for the PDC Development Tour.

His performances in the World Championships have moved him up 76 places in the world rankings.

The 16-year-old has repeatedly stated, amid all his success, that he wants to focus solely on his darts - and his outlook on facing Van Barneveld shows he is relishing the prospect of taking on one of the greatest darts players of all time.

Featured Image Credit: Getty / Sky News

Topics: Darts