LITTLER CASTS DOUBT ON BREAKING TAYLOR RECORD

By Aaron Nijjar  

LUKE LITTLER has claimed it’s unlikely he’ll target Phil Taylor’s World Championship haul – unless the money is good. 

16-time World Champion Taylor had a remarkable career picking up 85 major titles. 

‘The Nuke’ won his maiden PDC world crown earlier this year at just 17-years-old. 

Teen sensation Littler pocketed £500,000 after beating Michael van Gerwen 7-3 at Ally Pally in January. 

But Littler doesn’t see himself playing for another 35 years and replicating Taylor’s remarkable longevity. 

Littler joined Gary Neville, Jill Scott, Jamie Carragher, Roy Keane and Ian Wright on podcast The Overlap to discuss his career.  

World No. 2 Littler revealed his darts hero growing up was Taylor, who won 14 PDC World Championship titles over his three-decade career. 

Lionesses legend Scott asked Littler if he felt he was able to beat Taylor’s outrageous tally. 

Speaking to Stick to Football, brought to you by Sky Bet, Littler replied with a grin: “If I can be bothered to stay around for that time.” 

The Warrington thrower added that Taylor was 52 when he won his 16th crown in 2013. 

Wright chimed in: “You’ve got all that time, you can go for that long if you want.” 

Littler replied: “If I want..! 

“If I don’t have to [I’ll carry on that long]. If I want to, then I will.” 

Scott laughed: “I don’t think you’ll have to. You’ll get an apple juice deal or something.” 

Keane questioned if it was a lack of “hunger” that would see Littler put away his darts early. 

But Littler cheekily added in response: “Probably just the money, to be fair.” 

Five-time major winner Littler also believes Taylor would “struggle” if pitted against today’s modern-day elite. 

He continued: “There’s a record there [Phil Taylor’s] to be broken, but it’s going to take some doing. 

“He also won the World Matchplay 16 times, so he’s won two of the big majors 16 times – it’ll take some doing. 

“[The competition] is a lot better now. You still had Phil Taylor, Eric Bristow – it was still a good field. 

“But nowadays, I think Phil would struggle.” 

Littler returns to action tonight (Thursday) in Berlin for Week Nine of the Premier League. 

The 18-year-old is the defending champion and currently tops the standings with 28 points. 

He has already racked up four night victories, with just one more needed to take the tournament record of five. 

Littler said: “I never really say I’m the best in the world, but I am performing at a really good level at the moment. 

“I’m sitting comfortably at the top of the table now, so hopefully I should be even more settled going into the next few weeks. 

“I want to finish top of the table again, I want to go back-to-back, but my main goal now is to get my fifth nightly win in Berlin.” 

Image by Taylor Lanning.