World Darts Championship: Luke Littler set to face grandfather's ...

Teenage darts sensation Luke "The Nuke" Littler is gearing up to face his grandfather's former rival Ian White, 54, in the third round of the PDC World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace on Sunday.

Littler's grandfather played against White in matches between Egerton and Albion, and they were teammates when representing the Cheshire town of Runcorn in local tournaments.

"When I first started in darts, I played against his grandad, Phil Littler," White told The Sun. "That was in Runcorn. I used to beat him all the time! We played for local teams. I played against him loads of times. We had banter.

"I wouldn't have seen Luke in those days in the pub -- he wasn't even born then. That was in the 90s."

The 37-year age gap between the pair is a reminder of Luke Littler's extraordinary rise to superstardom. His run to last year's final -- where he was beaten by world No. 1 Luke Humphries -- turned him into the sport's biggest star.

"The lad is talented. He has put darts on the map," White said. "Everyone wants to come to the darts now. All the sponsors. That's the best thing that has happened to us.

"I have no pressure. I will go out there and play my darts. Hopefully the nine-darters will come in -- I'll probably need about eight of them against Luke."

Littler booked his place in the third round with a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Ryan Meikle on Dec. 21. The 17-year-old, who was visibly emotional after the match, set a tournament record with a staggering 140.91 average in the deciding fourth set, firing in four maximum 180s while winning three consecutive legs in 11, 10, and 11 darts in front of a boisterous crowd in north London.

"At 17 years old, I don't think I was playing darts. I had hair down to here. Ripped jeans. Listening to heavy metal. Off to Donington to watch Iron Maiden. With my motorbikes. That's what I was doing," White said.

"I have to get up there and silence the crowd or get the crowd on my side. That will be hard.

"I have seen one of my tops around the place. But you look at how many Luke's replica tops people are wearing. All these young kids are loving that.

"Listen, if I went up there and won, it would probably be one of the best things of my career. It'd be one of my biggest games. I remember playing Michael van Gerwen in Holland and all the people behind him were all booing me. I was throwing at 10 and I was cacking it. But I hit the score and won.

"Things like that you'll always remember when you finish darts. If I went on and beat Luke now, I'd have everyone out there booing me.

"But every darts player backstage would be shaking my hand! Saying: 'Well done, Ian.' I am telling you..."

The winner of Saturday's contest will face Ryan Joyce in the fourth round.

Saturday (All third round)

Afternoon Session (12.30 p.m. GMT)

Ryan Joyce v Ryan Searle (20)
Scott Williams v Ricardo Pietreczko
Nathan Aspinall (12) v Andrew Gilding (21)

Evening Session (7 p.m. GMT)

Chris Dobey (15) v Josh Rock (18)
Michael van Gerwen (3) v Brendan Dolan (30)
Luke Littler (4) v Ian White

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