Luke Littler’s fairytale journey to his first-ever PDC World Darts Championship final may have come to a disappointing end after a 7-4 defeat to world no.1 Luke Humphries, but his humble post-match interview proved exactly why so many have already fallen in love with him.
The 16-year-old darting sensation fell just shy of the World title despite putting on yet another incredible display and even going two sets clear of ‘Cool Hand’ at one point in the match, but beyond his obvious natural affinity for the game, it’s his persona on and off the stage that has once again endeared fans.
Speaking to Sky Sports’ Abigail Davies in the aftermath of his thrilling final — on his World Championship debut, no less — Littler said the “only negative” is that he “lost too many legs” with his own third darts and let the other Luke break his throw on one too many occasions.
Regardless, he said his maiden tournament has been “unbelievable”, insisting that “every game’s been good” and that he’s simply chuffed to now be in the top 32 in the world and have graduated to the pro tour so early in his career.
‘He doesn’t need to develop’ is the kind of cheeky little comment that fans have enjoyed over the past couple of weeks.
Still brimming with pride in himself and clearly focusing on the incredible achievement of being the youngest player in history to reach the final rather than the more immediate sting of falling at the final hurdle, the teenager was just happy to receive such high praise from both his opponent and the crowd as they serenaded him with, “there’s only one Luke Littler!”.
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Humphries had nothing but good things to say of his young adversary, insisting that “Luke has been an unbelievable talent. Not just on the dartboard: he has been fantastic with all the media, and he took defeat so well there.”
The 28-year-old went on to add that he simply had to win this time because “he’s going to dominate world darts soon”, adding, “You will never see another 16-year-old kid like him. He’s something else. He’s one of the finest players in the world, there’s no doubt about that.”
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While most people his age might have let the atmosphere and the emotion get the better of him, he continued to keep the same cool, calm and composed attitude that he exhibited throughout the competition deep into the post-match interviews.
Starting off his post-match presser by saying “I haven’t lost much [on that stage]” and that “you can’t be angry at yourself” for making it to a final, he said that his aim was only ever to “win one game” and that the support he’s received across the nation ever since his opening round victory has been “crazy”.
As well as having the presence of mind to sit and analyse where he went wrong, he also showed a level of grace and gratitude not only for getting to this point in the first place but even while fielding the media’s questions, giving detailed answers and thanking journalists for their time — a trait some of the best and most senior athletes in the world still haven’t mastered.
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Humble, confident and unquestionably skilled in equal measure? Yeah, this lad is going to go far.
Even if, as he said, he doesn’t get to another final for another five or ten years, this talented teen from Warrington has already made a huge impact on darts culture and helped attract a whole new generation of fans with his first TV appearance.
Featured Images — Sky Sports (via X)/TungstenTales (via YouTube)
Sport
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
4th January 2024 
