The teenager shot to popularity at the World Darts Championship this year, but lost to Luke Humphries in the final.
Luke Littler has spoken out after being accused of ‘cheating’ in lockdown darts competitions that were held digitally. The 17-year-old rose to prominence with a stunning run to the World Darts Championship final, but his rise began during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Prior to the coronavirus epidemic, Littler was relatively unknown in the darts world, despite winning the England Youth Grand Prix and the Isle of Man Masters youth competitions in 2019. During lockdown, the adolescent began to create waves in senior tournaments, which, given his age, led to suspicions of cheating in virtual competitions.
Littler was locked inside, logging his practice scores on the mobile phone app Scolia, and when he competed online, the accusations started. He told The Times: “I was working four to five hours a day, every day. I didn’t have anything else to do.
I started getting into various computer bots. The guy who organized events locally would do them online on weekends. You paid a tenner to enter. “I won, and some people accused me of cheating.”
He went on to say that when tournaments resumed in person, many asked if he could ‘prove it’. Littler proved his naysayers wrong in 2021, earning his first senior victory at the Irish Open. He added: “I was feeling better and better, and then we came out, and everything was back to normal.
“Everyone went from their kitchens and bedrooms to the pub and the darts world. I proved it, didn’t I? I don’t understand why I would cheat. If you’re so good, you don’t have to.”
