Luke Littler insists he is “just a lad doing what he does best” after Nathan Aspinall called him a celebrity rather than a darts player.
Littler has transcended the sport following his explosion onto the scene at the World Championship over Christmas.
The 17-year-old has been a guest on the Jonathan Ross Show, Comic Relief and appeared on a podcast with social media stars The Sidemen.
However, that has not been a distraction as he has proved himself to be already one of the best players in the world, having won titles at the Bahrain Masters, PDC Players Championship, Belgian Open and making it back-to-back nightly Premier League wins at his Manchester homecoming on Thursday.
“Maybe look at my following, I might be classed as a celebrity,” he said. “But I’m just a lad doing what he does best.
“Am I? I don’t know. I’m just a dart player. I just get on with it, whatever comes my way.
“I just have to get on with it. Whether I say things and don’t back it up. But at the minute I’m saying things and do back it up.”
Asked what his favourite celebrity booking has been so far, he said: “Probably meeting up with The Sidemen. I’ve been watching them since the opening packs on Fifa 13 and 14.
“Just to chat with them and chill out when I’ve got a day off.
“It’s always good just to step away from the darting world, even if it’s just a day at home.
“At the minute everything is going well. I’ve not been planning to win anything, just let my darts do the talking.”
Littler beat his stablemate and friend Aspinall on the way to glory at the AO Arena on Thursday night.
It was Aspinall, who has been mentoring Littler on the mental side of the game, who said that Littler is more than a just a darts player.
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But ‘The Asp’ says Littler still has plenty to learn from those who do not claim the spotlight in the same way.
“He is a fantastic talent. What he’s done for the sport. Forget about his darts ability because it’s not about his darts,” he said.
“He’s not a darts player, he’s a celebrity. I’m a darts player, he’s a celebrity. That’s the difference.
“But what’s he doing, because he’s a celebrity, he’s projecting darts to a whole new level.
“I did a day of media on Tuesday at the BBC, BBC have never cared about darts. All of a sudden me and Luke Littler are in there for five hours doing media, they want us.
“That isn’t because of me or (Michael) Van Gerwen, that’s because of Luke Littler. So you’ve got to give credit where credit is due.
“He is helping us boys out as much as himself. But darts-wise, he’s great but he hasn’t got what we’ve got at the moment.
“He’s got to learn from us. I don’t learn from him, he learns from me.”
Littler eyeing World Championship redemption after latest triumph
Luke Littler is eyeing redemption at the World Championship finals later this year after securing his maiden World Series of Darts Finals title in Amsterdam on Sunday.
Littler, who won the Premier League in May, comfortably dispatched Michael Smith 11-4 in the final on Sunday with a 102.21 average after losing the first two legs.
The 17-year-old began the day with a quarter-final triumph over Chris Dobey before turning on the style against home favourite Michael van Gerwen in the semis.
Littler took home the £80,000 prize money but remains behind Dirk van Duijvenbode in the world rankings due to the tournament being an invitational one.
The teenager rose to fame earlier this year with his impressive run at the World Championships, reaching the final but losing to world number one Luke Humphries.
And Littler, who avenged Humphries in the Premier League final, wants to go one better at Alexandra Palace later this year.
"I'm playing well so I will go back home and practice even more. There is no time to sit about, it's a busy winter coming up," Littler said.
"Everyone wants to win everything but I've learned you can't do that. I would like to win another major [title].
"I want the Worlds as anyone else does but another major would mean the world."
Root propels England to five-wicket victory over Sri Lanka
Joe Root guided England through a tricky final session as the hosts beat Sri Lanka by five runs in Manchester.
England looked like they could collapse when they were left at 70-3 following the dismissals of Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope and Dan Lawrence on Saturday.
Yet Root, along with Harry Brook, steadied the ship before the latter was caught and bowled by Prabath Jayasuriya on 32, leaving the hosts on 116-4, chasing a target of 204 to win.
Root, however, remained nerveless, with Jamie Smith contributing an entertaining and useful 39 from just 48 balls in a brief stint at the other end.
Smith's stand came to an end with England still 21 runs shy of their target, but Root would not let victory slip through their fingers.
And it was Root who fittingly had the final say as he struck his second boundary to take himself onto 62 and seal a convincing win.
Data Debrief: Root comes up big
Root has scored 60+ in five of his last seven Test innings, after managing 42 in the first innings of this match (84, 68, 14, 122, 87, 42, 62).
He is just one century away, meanwhile, from matching Alastair Cook's record of 33 Test tons for England.
Edwards, Muhammad successfully make weight ahead of UFC Welterweight Championship clash at UFC 304 in Manchester
The UFC 304 main event between Jamaican-born British UFC Welterweight champion Leon Edwards and number two ranked Belal Muhammad is now official after both men successfully weighed in at the Welterweight title fight limit of 170 pounds on Friday morning.
Edwards weighed in at 170 pounds while Muhammad came in one pound under at 169 pounds ahead of their rematch at the Co-op Live in Manchester, England on Saturday.
Their first fight back in March 2021 ended in a no contest after Edwards accidentally poked Muhammad in the eye, leaving him temporarily unable to see clearly.
On Saturday, Edwards will be looking to defend his Welterweight crown for the third time since winning it at UFC 278 in August 2022 while Muhammad will be looking for his sixth win in a row and first hold on a UFC title.
Friday’s weigh-ins went about as well as one can go as no fighter on the main card or prelims missed weight.
The rest of the main card is as follows:
Interim champion Tom Aspinall (251 lbs) vs Curtis Blaydes (256 lbs) for the Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship
King Green (154.5 lbs) vs Paddy Pimblett (156 lbs) at lightweight
Christian Leroy Duncan (185 lbs) vs Gregory Rodrigues (185 lbs) at middleweight
Arnold Allen (145 lbs) vs Giga Chikadze (146 lbs) at featherweight
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