Luke Littler sent warning by next World Championships opponent who used to beat his GRANDAD

Luke Littler was dreaming of a White Christmas - but on Saturday night he will run into a seasoned campaigner who used to beat his grandad at darts regularly.

In a tungsten version of the generation game, Luke the Nuke faces Ian White in the third round at the Paddy Power PDC World Championship at Alexandra Palace. And in another episode of Saturday flight fever, following the boy wonder's outrageous tournament record set average of 140.91 against Ryan Meikle last weekend, ‘Diamond’ White will jog his memory and remind him he used to turn over a Littler every week in the Runcorn pub league.

White, No.57 on the PDC order of merit, is relishing his prime-time slot in the limelight, saying: “When I first started in darts, I played against his grandad, Phil Littler, in Runcorn. I used to beat him all the time when he played for the Albion.

“I wouldn’t have seen Luke in the pub – he wasn’t even born then. That is why I say Luke is No.2 in Runcorn and I am No.1. We had some good banter and I saw him not that long ago, although it was a bad time - ate a funeral - but when I spoke to his grandad, he said, ‘Watch out, he’s playing well.’

“To be honest I didn’t hear a lot about Luke until two years before he started coming into the PDC. He hasn’t even turned 18 yet, but let’s see if he can keep it going. He’s got to have a beer, he’s got to be with the girls yet.

“But he is doing so well for the sport and we love it. I think it is the best thing ever. At the moment, everyone wants to get on board with the darts, the sponsors are coming in, prize money is going up - keep doing it, keep enjoying it.

“I didn’t watch Luke’s last game – I was watching the boxing! But I saw that he hit a 140 average in the last set and he’s class. When he gets up there, everyone wants to see him play. Bar the players he is playing, if he went on and won this World Championship, everyone would be like, he is the best thing ever.

“We have never seen a darts player go on the Jonathan Ross Show before, but all of a sudden Luke’s on it and all of a sudden darts is brilliant.”

White, 54, knows he is likely to be public enemy No.1 when he takes on the 17-year-old sensation who has made darts cool after generations of metropolitan snootiness and sneers that it’s not a ‘proper’ sport.

Tell that to the thousands of kids who woke up on Christmas morning to Luke Littler dartboards, sets of arrows and replica shirts. It’s light years from the world White inhabited as a teenager. “At 17, I don’t think I was even playing darts,” he said. “I had hair halfway down my back, ripped jeans, heavy metal, I was off to Donington Park to watch Iron Maiden. That’s what I was doing with my motorbikes - I wasn’t playing darts.

“I have got to get up there and silence the crowd or get the crowd on my side - that will be hard. Everywhere you look, young kids are wearing his tops. I am not a villain. Everyone knows I am not a villain. But, listen, if I went up there and won, it would probably be one of the best things of my career. If I won, it would be one of my biggest games.

“I have played Luke Humphries before, I’ve played Michael van Gerwen in Holland and all the people behind him booing me. Throwing at double 10, I was cacking it, but at the end of the day, I hit it and won. Things like that you will always remember when you finish.

“If I went on and won and beat him now, I would have everyone out there booing me but every darts player would be shaking my hand - ‘Well done, Ian’ - I am telling you.”

White used to practice with an A-list of former world champions from Phil Taylor to John Part, Adrian Lewis and Michael Smith - and he wishes he had charged them commission as a common denominator behind their success. He laughed: “I haven’t got a dartboard up in the house. I always go out to have a practice.

“I have practised with all these lads who are all winning world titles and I am thinking, ‘What is going on here? I must charge more when I am practising, they all became world champions.’ But I won’t practise with Luke Littler. I won’t even give him my number!”

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