The question on everyone’s lips is who will be the next Luke Littler, but one Scottish teenage sensation has emerged as a contender.
Mitchell Lawrie, 15, will become the youngest participant ever at the WDF World Darts Championship this November, a record previously held by Littler when he competed back in 2022 and made it to the last 16.
As well as his debut appearance at Lakeside, Lawrie will also be in attendance at Alexandra Palace, having qualified for the JDC World Final which will take place amidst Littler’s PDC world title defence.
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Watch Luke Littler’s instant reaction to the World Darts Championship draw as he is set to face Darius Labanauskas.
Lawrie nicked another record from Littler just a couple of weeks ago when he became the youngest player to win three senior men’s titles after winning the British Open, Welsh Open and Irish Classic in the WDF aged 15 years and four days old.
Littler was 15 years, five months and four days old when he picked up his third title on the WDF, meaning Lawrie has overtaken his record by five months.
As he looks to claim the WDF title, the teenager starts with a match-up against Tomoya Maruyama in the first round, with second-seeded Jason Brandon waiting.
For Littler, Lawrie is an obvious exciting talent and he has been keeping an eye on his records that he has been chasing down.
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Speaking on Love The Darts, Abigail Davies and Chris Murphy discuss Luke Litter’s rise to world number one and who can challenge him at the World Championship.
“He’s a very, very good player at such a young age like myself. Obviously, I think about my record for winning a WDF Open,” Littler said.
“So that’s another one he has taken off me but he’s a very good player.
“It is crazy. He’s got to wait years for the development tour.
“But for now, he’s just got to keep at it because he’s got to wait.
“But there’s plenty of opportunities out there for now for tournaments to go and win.”
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Luke Humphries says his arch-rival Luke Littler is in his own league as the world number one and two players in darts prepare for the World Championships in December.
So, what is Littler’s advice for Lawrie? He believes he just needs to keep going, taking his opportunities, and making sure his game is the best it can be for when he has the chance to try and join the Development Tour at 16 years of age.
“You have just got to keep your head down. You still have got to keep going,” he added.
“Because I think at 14, 15, I was like ‘oh it’s another year till I can go on the Development Tour’.
“He’s definitely thinking the same the way he’s been playing. So just keep his head down and yeah you’ll be on Tour.”
The next Beau Greaves?
Paige Pauling is making waves in the women’s game (Photo courtesy of Tamas Kovacs/Hungarian Darts Federation)
The WDF also has the exciting Paige Pauling who, at 17 years of age, is the WDF girls world No 1 and only the second player ever to qualify for the Girls and Women’s WDF World Championships.
The first was Sophie McKinlay, who did it last year and made both finals.
If Pauling were to pull off victory, she would become the youngest-ever Women’s World Champion and overtake the record set by Greaves who completed it at 18 years, three months, one day in 2022.
Pauling would be 17 years, eight months and 23 days on this year’s finals day.
Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch every match exclusively live from December 11 to January 3 on Sky Sports’ dedicated darts channel (Sky channel 407 from December 10). Stream darts and more top sport with NOW.
