‘I beat Phil Taylor after I was 13 – now I need lengthy rivalry with Luke Littler’

Leighton Bennett, the unique boy surprise of darts earlier than Luke Littler stole his thunder, has signalled the beginning of a brand new arms race by successful a PDC Tour card.

‌’Boom Boom’ Bennett, 18, and Luke the Nuke could have us diving for the air raid shelters for years after their simultaneous ascent into the skilled ranks. While 16-year-old Littler was a visitor of his beloved Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday after a fairytale run to the PDC World Championship closing at Alexandra Palace, Bennett was celebrating his triumph at Q faculty to affix him on the Pro Tour.

Bennett, who beat 16-times world champion Phil Taylor in an exhibition recreation 5 years in the past, admitted: “Seeing Luke do so well at Ally Pally gave me the kick up the backside I needed.” Now the 2 outdated junior rivals will cross paths repeatedly at Professional Darts Corporation flooring tournaments and Bennett, who suffered a dip in kind by means of adolescence, sank to his knees in tears when his place on the travelling circus was confirmed.

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After securing an automated Tour card by beating Thomas Cromwell 6-3 in Saturday’s Q faculty closing, ‘Boom Boom’ mentioned: “There’s been no strain I’ve felt over the previous 12 months to be sincere – Luke has taken the highlight off me.

‌“Happy days actually, I may simply focus alone recreation. If I did have a foul recreation, nobody was actually occurring about it. But seeing Luke on the Worlds has given me a kick up the bottom and now I simply wish to push on and get again up there myself.

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‌“When I was 12 or 13, I was probably was playing the best darts of my life – but this week has seen glimpses of the old me. I’ve got the old confidence. I’ve proved loads and loads of people wrong from years ago. They said I was just a kid and he won’t do anything in years to come. Here we are now, and I’m actually classified as a professional dart player.”

‌Although Littler’s £200,000 prize cash as runner-up behind champion Luke Humphries at Ally Pally dwarfs any prize cash Lincoln teenager Bennett has received thus far, they’ve now sown the seeds of a possible duel for the ages. Bennett, who received the BDO youth world title aged 13 by hitting bullseye to clinch the title on the Lakeside, mentioned: “I’d like it if Luke and I grew to become a brand new Taylor v Raymond van Barneveld type of rivalry.

‌“It would be great if we drew each other at the UK Open on the main stage. I think that’s what people would want. I’d want that draw definitely. I think I’ve played Luke 50 or 60 times. I’ve got a better record over him, only because I was a bit older probably. Over the past two years he has battered me more. I beat him last time though, I need to say that obviously!

‌“I wanted to get back to where I knew I could be and, to be honest, it’s come much sooner than I thought. Although I’m so glad with everything I did before with Phil Taylor and the exhibitions when I was 13, I did lose a bit of love for the sport. I’ve got back into it like mad and now winning a Tour card has made me want to succeed even more than ever before. Being on the ProTour is now a completely different ball game. It’s another chapter now.”