Luke Littler, 18, sends blunt message to Gary Anderson as darts star hits back at ‘boring' jibe
Anderson, 54, lashed out at young players' attitudes in his post-match interview after beating Luke Woodhouse at the World Matchplay last Sunday.
3
Two-time world champion Gary Anderson lamented young darts stars' 'boring' nature last Sunday
Credit: Getty
3
Darts sensation Luke Littler, 18, was the indirect target of the jibe aimed at young darts players
Credit: Getty
Anderson said: "The youngsters are boring. Absolutely boring.
"You talk to them, they're too busy looking at their phone.
"They're sitting on their phones with their bloody earphones in. Don't talk to you. It's a completely different life."
Littler gave his blunt, tongue-in-cheek response in a press conference at the World Matchplay.
He said: "A lot of us players, we just get on with our thing.
"Like Gary Anderson said, we're boring so that's what we do."
Littler, the young prodigy of modern darts, was clearly stung by the comments but managed to take them in good sport.
Since Anderson's jibe, the two-time world champion has been knocked out of the World Matchplay by Englishman Stephen Bunting.
CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS
3
Littler's next opponent Josh Rock, 24, is also one of the sport's younger stars
Credit: Getty
Littler has battled his way into the final four with a victory over Andrew Gilding, spurred on by his new girlfriend.
He now faces Josh Rock in the semi-finals at the Winter Garden later today.
Luke Littler, 18, plants kiss on girlfriend Faith, 19, during walk-on for World Matchplay Darts quarter-final
Should he win, he will face either James Wade or Jonny Clayton in the final, for a chance to add to his already incredible pool of prize money.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
3 hours ago
- The Sun
World Matchplay Darts 2025 LIVE RESULTS: Luke Littler BEATS James Wade and makes HISTORY to take home title
LUKE Littler has WON the World Matchplay in Blackpool - and has made HISTORY in the process! Teenage sensation Luke Littler made history by becoming the youngest triple crown winner ever, winning the World Championship, Premier League Darts and now World Matchplay. James Wade featured in his SEVENTH World Matchplay final against him, but was unable to stop the continuous rise of Luke Littler at the Winter Gardens. Llast year's champion Luke Humphries suffered a SHOCK first round exit against Gian van Veen, with his English teammate Littler taking the title from him.
Metro
4 hours ago
- Metro
Luke Littler eyes mammoth Phil Taylor record after historic World Matchplay win
Luke Littler is not ruling out breaking Phil Taylor's monumental record in the World Matchplay after winning the event for the first time on Sunday night. The 18-yaer-old turned in a stunning performance to beat James Wade 18-13 in a brilliant final in Blackpool. The world champion finished the match with a blistering average of 107.24, throwing 17 180s over the piece. Wade enjoyed the dream start to the match, racing into a 5-0 lead, and played beautifully for most of the contest, incredibly averaging 101.54 over 31 frames and still losing. Littler was in untouchable form, though, and expects to be for a long time to come as he is already having a look at Taylor's absurd record of 16 World Matchplay titles. The Power made the Blackpool event his own, so much so that the trophy is named after the legend of the oche, and it was stirring for the Nuke to get his hands on it for the first time. 'It means everything,' he said. 'Obviously he came here on his last Matchplay and picked up the trophy. To win it 16 times, Phil was the player he was, but just to get my name on the trophy means a lot.' On his chances of reaching 16 titles himself, Littler added: 'That's the only thing, its carrying on for that amount of time, but maybe in the next 16 times I might have broken it. I might come back every year and just win it! 'I want to conquer everything in this sport and I've ticked this one off tonight. I want to win one of everything and we'll see what happens from there.' Littler has given himself a target of ticking off every major PDC title once and few would doubt that he can achieve that, but what would come next? 'That's what everyone's probably thinking, what do I do after I've won one of everything,' he said. 'But for myself, just build on it, get multiple of everything. get triple of everything. But yeah, once I win one of everything I won't pack it in just yet.' When the dream becomes a reality❤️ means the world to have my hands on the Phil Taylor trophy and complete the triple crown🏆 — Luke Littler (@LukeTheNuke180) July 27, 2025 The teenager is not short of targets and before 16 World Matchplays and one of every title, he is eyeing up the world number one spot, which he is yet to claim in his career. Despite Littler's incredible success so far in his career, Luke Humphries has held onto the top spot in the rankings, but the Nuke knows he could usurp him by the end of the year. 'Obviously I've looked at the rankings, provisional world number one for the Worlds, if Luke doesn't defend all that prize money,' he said. 'Obviously I don't want him to, I'd love to be world number one.' Littler landed a record 64 180s in his World Matchplay campaign, beating the previous high watermark of 56 set by Adrian Lewis in 2013. More Trending It was a stunning string of performances from the world number two, including a nine-darter against Josh Rock in the semi-finals. Wade also enjoyed a fabulous tournament, returning to the Blackpool final for the first time since 2015, remarkably his seventh Matchplay showpiece. His run was ended in the final by Littler, just as it was at the UK Open this season, but his performance was massively better on Sunday than it was in Minehead, when he was brushed aside 11-2. MORE: Luke Littler names darts rival with best mentality in the sport MORE: Signing Viktor Gyokeres makes it a win-or-bust season for Mikel Arteta at Arsenal MORE: Alexander Isak odds: Would Newcastle really sell their star striker to Arsenal or Liverpool?
Scottish Sun
4 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Marcus Rashford gets into the action on Barcelona debut as he comes on at half time – but gets subbed after 33 minutes
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) MARCUS Rashford gets into the action on his Barcelona debut yesterday — after coming out at half-time for just 33 minutes. The Three Lions striker, on a season-long loan from Man Utd, became the first Englishman to play for the Spanish giants since Gary Lineker between 1986 and 1989. 3 Marcus Rashford takes a shot at goal on his Barcelona debut 3 The Three Lions striker is on a season-long loan from Man Utd Credit: Getty 3 He is the first Englishman to play for the Spanish giants since Gary Lineker Credit: Getty Legend Lineker said: 'I expect Marcus will do well.' Rashford, 27, helped Barca to a 3-1 victory in a friendly in Japan against local team Vissel Kobe. We recently revealed how Rashford has has rekindled his relationship with former fiancée Lucia Loi. She was with him when he signed for FC Barcelona. The Three Lions ace, 27, and childhood sweetheart Lucia, 26, were together during a photoshoot before he was unveiled as the Catalan giants' latest signing at the Camp Nou stadium. She took his photo, then moved behind him to take another and seemingly checked his shirt before the Man United exile posed beside a traditional red British phone box. Rashford was later seen emerging from the kiosk in a post on FC Barcelona's social media, captioned: 'Hello? Barca? For sure, I'm coming.' The Sun understands that Rashford has asked calming influence Lucia, who works in PR, to help him settle in to life in Spain so he can focus on his football. But they were not seen together until they were unwittingly snapped preparing for his phone box stunt. A source said the pair have stayed close, despite their 2022 engagement fizzling out, and have grown close again of late.
