Luke Littler drops his ‘ruthless’ confession and admits he keeps an eye on all his rivals | Other

Luke Littler has warned his rivals he will continue to be “ruthless” in his bid to claim the World Darts Championship title.

The Nuke secured his place in the fourth round with a hard-fought victory over Ian White despite not being at his best. He survived set darts in the first and fourth sets and struggled with a 35 percent success rate on doubles.

The 17-year-old appeared particularly upbeat at times, strutting around with attitude and letting out a loud roar as he completed the fourth set.

In his post-match press conference he said: “It’s good for me to show that I can be ruthless. I’m not a nice person on the board sometimes, I don’t think anyone is.”

“It’s always good to have a little aggression. Ian has been around for many years, he played against my grandfather. For me it’s good to be ruthless, especially in the last dart.”

Littler added that he kept a close eye on his rivals by watching almost every game at Alexandra Palace and only missed one evening to attend the Sportsman of the Year awards.

“I was watching this afternoon and just chilling on my phone,” he said. “I’m still a darts fan. I’ll still try to play my games, but I’ll always take a look at what’s going on elsewhere. You have to play well no matter who you’re playing against.”

Littler will face unseeded Ryan Joyce in the fourth round on Monday as he looks to keep his World Darts Championship title hopes alive.

Joyce has already admitted he expects to be thrashed, saying: “When Luke Littler is playing at his absolute top level, he can beat anyone, right? He will conveniently push me aside.”

When asked for his opinion on these comments, Littler replied: “I didn’t know he said that. If he thinks that, it’s not really good for his game. I just have to focus on my game and it’s all about what happens that day.”

Only time will tell if Littler can win the World Darts Championship the second time around. He was beaten by Luke Humphries in the final last year and could face him in the semi-final as he was placed in the same half of the draw.

Humphries has already insisted that he or Littler will take the title, saying: “A Luke will win and I think it will be me! It would be stupid not to do it. I believe I can win again.”

“It will be tough but I know I have the ability to win it and I think every player will believe in it. I know I have a tough run ahead of me and it will be tough, but you have to believe in yourself.”