Luke Littler ‘sorry’ in ‘frustrated’ admission as he breaks down in tears after difficult update

The star is eager to return to action in the third round

Luke Littler has spoken of his growing frustration at the World Darts Championship. The 17-year-old sensation from Warrington is aiming to win the prestigious title at Alexandra Palace.

The Nuke will return to action on Friday as he aims to book his place in the fourth round. Littler took the competition by storm last year, becoming the youngest finalist ever. Littler is looking to go one better this year and hopes to continue his incredible run by beating Ian White in the next match.

The talented star is the favorite to make history and win the competition this year. However, he admitted another record is bothering him as he looks to become the first player in PDC history to post five nine darts in a 12-month period.

Littler laughed it adds to the pressure that Paddy Power is offering a member of the public the chance to win £60,000 if a nine dart is completed. Littler narrowly missed the nine-dart opportunity in his second-round victory over Ryan Meikle and he told Sky Sports it was something he was aware of.

He said: “It definitely becomes frustrating in a good way. Obviously as soon as you go to treble 19 your eyes light up. I heard the camera pan to the winner, so I’m sorry, whatever who you have. I’ll try again.”

The darts star broke down in tears during her post-match interview with Sky Sports’ Abigail Davies after beating Meikle last weekend. Struggling to keep her composure, the teenage sensation admitted: “I started off really slow…”, before breaking down in tears to cheers of support from the Ally Pally audience. His mother, Lisa, comforted him as he pulled himself together.

Once settled, Luke expressed how difficult the match was. He said: “It’s the hardest match I’ve played. I had to fight until the end. It’s good to be back. It’s the worst match I’ve ever played. Maybe as nervous as my first Premier League game.

“At first I was a little nervous on that stage. After the first question, the tears came. I said to myself: what am I doing? It was a little too much to speak on stage.”

Later, in another interview, Luke said: “It was the hardest game I played and I had to fight until the end. I knew I had the game, but I had to find it somewhere and luckily I managed to find it.

“I felt good a few hours before playing, but as soon as George (referee George Noble) said, ‘I’m going on,’ I was so nervous and thought, ‘What are you doing? ‘ My average in the last set will probably already make headlines, but all that matters to me is winning.”