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luke littler He says his World Darts Championship title defense will not be derailed by opponents trying to get into his head.
The 18-year-old is going back to defend his crown Alexandra PalaceWhere he became the youngest ever winner in January.
Since then he has dominated the game, dethroning Luke Humphreys to world number one in a stunning year that has seen him win the UK Open, World Matchplay, Grand Prix, and Grand Prix. Grand Slam of Darts And The Players Championship.
Some players have tried to resort to ‘dark arts’ to stop his dominance.
Poland’s Riccardo Pietrzko recently told Littler that he did not expect to get more than a leg in his match at the Players Championship when the match was tied at 5–5.
Littler, who begins his campaign against Darius Labanauskas on Thursday night, revealed that it motivated him to win and warned everyone else not to get bothered by mind games.
Asked if anyone could come into his shoes, he said: “No, no one. I think winning titles obviously comes with experience, but I think from a young age I’ve had my head down and wanted to win these games.”
“No one can come into my mind because if you say something to me, I will block it out and just keep doing my work.
“And as a professional, going back to what Ricciardo said, when you’re saying, ‘You’re just hoping to get a leg’, you’re not expecting to get a leg, you’re expecting to win games, you’re expecting to get to the quarter-finals.
“Once he said that to me, I said to myself, ‘You’ve got to win this game. There’s no way somebody tells you that and you don’t win the game.’ So, I just put my head down and I got the job done.
“But if other players want to do it, I think the same thing will happen as I did with Ricciardo.
“I’ll just go ahead and win the game, because there’s no point in saying that because you might be going in your own head.
“That’s what players try and do.”
reminds of the dominance of littler phil taylor and Michael van Gerwen, who often felt that his opponent had been defeated before even taking the stage.
The teen is starting to have the same aura, but he doesn’t know whether the opening notes of his walk-on song Greenlight have shocked his opponents.
“I don’t know about the beginning, but it’s just a game of darts,” Littler said. “Do people balk when they hear greenlight? That’s what’s going on in their mind. They can make that decision.”
“I’ve still got darts to play, and there’s a world championship here.”
former world champion michael smith She will be hoping to regain her form as she faces Lisa Ashton, one of five female players in this year’s tournament.
Kim Huybrechts’ match with Arno Merck and Madaras Razma’s match with Jamai Van Den Herik complete the opening night schedule.
