Luke Littler playing from the age of 10 at St Helens Darts Academy

Despite playing just four senior matches before the Darts World Championships, 16-year-old Littler has taken the sporting world by storm after beating former world champions and reaching the semi-finals of the tournament.

Runcorn-born Littler defeated Rob Cross in tonight's (Tuesday, January 2) semi-final at Alexandra Palace in London, but it is in St Helens where the teenager has honed his craft.

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Luke has learned his craft at the Sutton Leach darts club (Image: St Helens Darts Academy)
After throwing his first dart at just 18 months old, the Warrington-based darts star was throwing darts at a magnetic board "non stop" during his childhood.

By the time he presented himself at St Helens Darts Academy, on Wheatsheaf Avenue in Sutton Leach, the primary school pupil was streets ahead of those his own age and had to play against older and older competitors.

"By the time he was 10 we knew he was too good for his age," Karl Holden, Littler's former coach at the St Helens Darts Academy, told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"He couldn't play in the PDC or the big time until he was 16, so we just let him enjoy himself and he's just worked his way through the ranks.

"He went from under-10s to under-14 leagues and, before he was 11, he was playing in the under-21s, just simply because he was too good for anybody else."

The local darts club has trained a handful of players who have made it professional (Image: St Helens Darts Academy)
Following in the footsteps of other darting heroes from St Helens Darts Academy, such as Michael Smith, Dave Chisnall, and Stephen Bunting, Littler became a young darting prodigy at the Sutton Leach club.

Hitting a nine-darter at the Junior Darts Masters Tournament at age 14, and winning the 2023 PDC World Youth Championship and 12 adult titles, the 16-year-old has already become an inspiration for all the young players at the Darts Academy.

Although he sat his GCSE's just last year, his former coach believes he has the ability to become the youngest ever darts world champion.

Littler will play Rob Cross in the World Championship semi-final on Tuesday, January 2 (Image: PA)
In a BBC Radio 5 Live interview, Holden added: "He can win it. We knew he was good enough, we knew that before he started.

"A lot of people in the darts shop were saying 'who is this Luke Littler?' but I was saying he's a good outside chance.

"Many didn't know who he was, but I think everyone knows who he is now. Every time I put the TV on he is there."