Luke Littler, 17, is ‘a genius’ and ‘impossible to handle’, claims Barry Hearn as he lifts lid on darts sensation
DARTS chief Barry Hearn has labelled Luke Littler a “GENIUS” and can’t be criticised.
The Professional Darts Corporation president has leapt to the defence of the 17-year-old after his opening match exit at the World Matchplay.
It was revealed shortly after his defeat to Michael van Gerwen that Littler had split with his girlfriend Eloise Milburn.
But on his defeat to MVG, Hearn told TalkSPORT.com: “The trouble is when you are dealing with geniuses, which they both are, you set the bar ridiculously high.
“They can both do magical things, but I have sat down with him once and I really like Luke.
“He’s a very sensible man, and has a good team around him giving him good advice.
“He’s 17-years-old, and he’s probably earned a million since January. There is only one Luke Littler per million darts players, one Michael Van Gerwen and one Luke Humphries.
“They will all have days when they are slightly below par. You can’t criticise geniuses, it is wrong. I have to allow him his own freedom, every genius is impossible to handle because they are so original.
“Luke Littler gets beat 10-6, a couple of moments it could have been the other way around.”
James Wade also gave his opinion on Littler during the World Matchplay.
‘The Machine’ said that Littler is going to have a drop off at some point, but at the same time Wade stated that Littler doesn’t really need to play darts for the money already.
He said: “I heard Glen Durrant say that Littler will either dominate for only two years or over 10.
“I’m not sure which one it’ll be, but I do actually agree with that. Let’s be honest, Luke’s probably earned more money than most dart players, if not all dart players, in a year of his existence.
“He’s influential and financially viable and a great pull. But I’m interested in seeing what he’s doing.
“He will have a downturn, 100 per cent it’ll happen. He will struggle, and he will find things hard and then we’ll see what he’s really about.”
Inside Littler's massive rise
LUKE LITTLER has taken the darts world by storm since exploding onto the scene at the PDC World Championship.
The Nuke reached the final on his Ally Pally debut at just 16 years of age – smashing records along the way.
He has since joined Jude Bellingham on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list.
And the teenage titan even had to snub an invite from the WWE.
The Sun exclusively revealed that Littler is plotting to create a fitness empire.
He is also cashing in away from the Oche thanks to an Instagram side hustle.
And he’s even the face of a brand new cereal.
The wonderkid has now cemented his place among the tungsten elite by winning the Premier League Darts final – and the £275k top prize.
Check out all of our latest Luke Littler stories.