Littler’s most extravagant buy from darts winnings says loads about him
Darts star Luke Littler has raked in a hefty sum of prize money since his jaw-dropping breakthrough at the start of the year.
The 17-year-old has had an incredible year since wowing sports fans on his way to the World Championship final in January, proving not to be a flash in the pan. ‘The Nuke’ bagged his ninth title of the year at the Players Championship 20 event in Wigan earlier this week, fending off a Stephen Bunting comeback to win 8-7 and pocketing another £15k.
It extended Littler’s winning streak to 12 games, days after his victory at the World Series of Darts in Amsterdam last weekend, and resulted in a combined £95k windfall for the darts prodigy. While some young sports stars might splurge on flashy cars or designer clothes, Littler demonstrated that fame hasn’t changed much about his spending habits.
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Following his victory in Wigan, Littler was asked about his most extravagant purchase since making it big. The 17-year-old responded, “I bought myself a nice bag,” while chuckling.
This suggests that Littler is unlikely to burn through his vast winnings, which started with his £200k prize for finishing runner-up at the World Championship. The PDC Order of Merit is determined by prize money, with Littler currently ranked 22nd in the world with £364,500 in winnings.
While that is already an eye-watering sum, the teenager is doing even better than it seems, with the PDC not factoring his Premier League triumph into the rankings. Littler scooped up £40k for his nightly wins before the young gun landed the £275k jackpot in May, beating world No.1 Luke Humphries in the final.
The World Series of Darts is also a non-ranked PDC event, meaning that another £80k is missing from the Premier League champion’s total in the world rankings. With those two competitions earning him just shy of £400k, it’s not exactly chump change.
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(Image: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Earlier this year, the darting whizz-kid admitted to splurging some of his prize money on Ultimate Team, the much-loved feature in the EA FC game series, previously known as FIFA. Allowing players to spend real cash on player packs to build their dream squad, the Manchester United fans revealed that he had invested in his team.
“My ultimate team? That’s what I spend my money on. Petr Cech, he’s good,” Littler told The Times. “This’ll go down well, then: [Vincent] Kompany and [Virgil] van Dijk at the back.
“Trent [Alexander-Arnold] at right-back. [Gianfranco] Zola, Thierry Henry, [Harry] Kane, [Michael] Essien. You’ve got to spend money to get that team. That’s what I’ve always done. When I win money, I just treat myself, buy some packs, get some good players.”
