LITTLER EFFECT HAS ACADEMIES "BOUNCING"

GLEN DURRANT says the “numbers are bouncing” in youth academies because of the Luke Littler effect.

The World No.1 will be aiming to continue his remarkable run of major wins and defend his World Matchplay title in Blackpool when it begins next Saturday.

But three-times World Champ Durrant has revealed that The Nuke’s rise to stardom means that a next generation of wonderkids is on the way.

He said: “I think it's a great thing. You’re doing something to dominate. Five thousand people at Madison Square Garden, and I can tell you people are going to academies, the numbers are bouncing.

“Why? It's the Luke Littler effect. He has regenerated our sport when we needed someone. Phil Taylor, unbelievable. Then there was that period of Michael van Gerwen from 2016 to 2019.

“Then we were looking. There were a couple of years when I was winning, José de Sousa was winning, Dimi (Van den Bergh) was winning. But then what we saw at the World Championship in 2023, where he lost in that final, he's just regenerated the sport.

“I've never in my life seen darts like it is right now. He plays a massive part in the success of the sport, both at grassroots level and strategically in the bigger picture.”

Durrant also admits that he’s blown away by the emergence of another young star Beau Greaves.

He added: “My favourite throw in the world of darts is Beau Greaves. I think winning the Players Championship was a really big thing.

“I commentated on that 142. Honestly, when it happened it was like, ‘How do I get this right as a commentator?’ Because this is big. This is huge, what she’s doing right now.

“She's her own person, Beau. That's what I admire. I remember commentating on her at the Modus Super Series, then getting an interview with her. I was transfixed by her. Her answers were so mature.

“Now she's got Target on her side. Now she's working with Garry Plummer and others. The world's her oyster, but despite that I think she'll have the final say. She's an incredible lady. The best female player I've ever seen, and that throw is just dynamite.

“So she can get that belief, but it's hard. It's hard when you're coming up against the players that are in the world's top eight right now. To get that monkey off her back by winning a Players Championship was massive.

“Can she win a TV tournament? That's a big ask. That's a big ask. But listen, for the world of sport, for the world of darts, fingers crossed she does."

Words by Phil Lanning.

Images by TAYLOR LANNING.