Darts star Rob Cross believes that Luke Littler will fail in his bid to become the sport’s greatest-ever player, despite making an astonishing start to his career. The 17-year-old finished top of the Premier League table ahead of the upcoming play-offs in London, following on from his World Championship runner-up place.
Littler is well on his way to becoming one of darts’ greatest if he continues on his current trajectory, having won four Premier League nights this season. No player in the competition’s history has ever sealed five nightly victories.
Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor is often heralded as the sport’s GOAT with 16 world titles to his name and a record 85 major wins. He is set to call it a day at the end of the 2024 Senior Darts Tour season after initially stepping away from professional darts in 2018.
Taylor dominated for more than two decades after his first World Championship win in 1990, a feat that Littler could have a chance at replicating should he want to continue in darts for that amount of time.
But the teenager has hinted that longevity is not an area that interests him, which is why Cross believes that Littler – or any other player – won’t ever match Taylor’s accomplishments.
“Phil won so much didn’t he. He was so dominant. We weren’t talking about dominance for 10 years, it was probably 20. I don’t think the big guy will ever get toppled like that,” Cross told Sportslens.
“Some of his tournament averages, I think he played the European Championship, and he had a tournament average of 112. Most people want to hit that in one game, no matter five or six or however much it was. It’s just amazing, I don’t think that will ever get beat. I also think that no one will ever match him again. When you see all that he has won, that remains hugely impressive.”
Littler himself has already hinted at an early retirement, aiming for a short and sweet time on top of the darts world, as he is already entertaining thoughts of quitting darts despite becoming a phenomenon before turning 18.
“I’ve been playing a long time in the juniors, in the old British Darts Federation,” he explained to The Times in February. “I might just do 10 or 15 years and retire, if I’ve had enough.”
Littler already talking about retirement suggests that he will not look to emulate Taylor’s success across such a lengthy period and in Cross’ eyes, will struggle to match his standing in the game as a result.
