Luke Littler gets his World Darts Championship defence up and running on Thursday, and one part of his preparations left a prominent pundit scratching his head
Three-time darts world champion Glen Durrant has credited Luke Littler for his rare calm under pressure. So much so that the teenage talent barely looks like he’s trying even when the stakes are incredibly high.
‘The Nuke’ gets going in his defence of the PDC World Darts Championship crown on Thursday when he faces Darius Labanauskas. The pair will go head-to-head in the penultimate of four first-round matches on the slate for the tournament’s opening night.
And there’s one part of Littler’s prep – or lack thereof – that has fascinated Durrant. The Middlesbrough legend sat down with Mirror Sport (in partnership with 10bet) ahead of the 2026 World Championship and explained how he was amazed by Littler’s knack for results despite barely preparing for his matches.
“He doesn’t practise, his preparation is bizarre,” said ‘Duzza’, before relaying one personal anecdote from watching Littler during a recent trip abroad. “In Finland, let me tell you, he left his quarter, sat on his phone, talked to his dad [while] sat with Phil Taylor, [and] he’d went and done a bullseye.
“[He] had three darts, went up on the stage in front of 6,500 people, banged 10 180s and was averaging 110 throughout. He didn’t throw a dart at the board.”
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It’s a given in darts that while players may not be archetypal athletes, there’s no stone left unturned when it comes to the prep phase. Except Littler has torn up the rulebook in that sense given he has long professed to not overdoing things when it comes to practice.
In a way, that fact will only further frustrate those rivals who can’t reach his levels despite putting so much time in away from the oche. Numerous stars of the sport have said they practice for hours on end every day; for Littler, it’s more easily measured in minutes.
It was during the youngster’s run to the 2024 World Championship final that one team-mate revealed that figure is as little as one hour per week. Regardless, there’s no arguing with results as the laid-back approach certainly works in his favour.
“I think he put stats on the other day, that he practiced 52 hours this year [2023], so that’s one hour per a week,” said one of Littler’s colleagues at Runcorn Golf Club back in January 2024. “He obviously doesn’t need the practice, but he’s got a lot of game time this week.”
Sky Sports pundit Durrant, who won the Premier League in his debut year back in 2020, was also asked if he had any ideas when it came to Littler’s kryptonite, be it a big talent or an even bigger personality. In short, no-one in the PDC world has found an answer to that question just yet.
Thursday’s showdown with Labanauskas will be the first time the two players have met under competitive conditions as ‘Lucky D’ chases an upset. However, Durrant has assured the Lithuanian will be content with just reaching the draw, which comes with an inflated £15,000 consolation prize after the PDC beefed up its prize offerings this year.
Glen Durrant was speaking to Mirror Sport on behalf of 10bet. Search for 10bet for the latest PDC World Championship betting offers.
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The PDC World Darts Championship gets underway on December 11 and fans can watch every match exclusively live with Sky’s Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle.
