Luke Littler dubbed ‘better than Michael van Gerwen’ by darts star who sent him crashing out of Flanders Trophy
LUKE LITTLER has been dubbed as better than Michael van Gerwen after crashing out of the Flanders Trophy.
The teen sensation couldn’t keep up his incredible Euro form as Dirk Van Duijvenbode KO’d him 6-2 in the third round in Antwerp on Sunday.
Littler, 17, had no answer to the big Dutchman and never looked likely to match his final in Germany a week ago.
Van Duijvenbode then hailed him as even better than Van Gerwen when he was a teenager.
He said: “We’ve never seen a kid play like this. I know Michael van Gerwen doesn’t like to hear it, but this kid is better than Michael when he was 17.
“He isn’t at his best. He has so much more to improve and he’s already almost unbeatable.
“What can I say? I saw his averages yesterday and I thought OK he hit 135 with first three darts.
“I know I can do that but I don’t do it every time. So I was so focused. I was like ‘Dirk if you want to win you need to be at your best’.
“I was so focused at the beginning with 180 and 180. I think there were five maximums in the first four legs.
“Luke Humphries is World No.1 and World Champion but Luke Littler is No.2. We are talking about a 17-year-old kid.
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“He is better than me and better than a lot of players. If you beat him, it’s a massive confidence boost.”
Van Duijvenbode averaged 101.38 and threw five 180s during the match against the Nuke.
The 32-year-old will now head into the quarter-finals and play Ricardo Pietreczko in the last eight with the hopes of winning the £30,000 jackpot in Antwerp on Sunday.
Inside Littler's massive rise
LUKE LITTLER has taken the darts world by storm since exploding onto the scene at the PDC World Championship at the beginning of the year.
The Nuke reached the final on his Ally Pally debut at just 16 years of age – smashing records along the way.
He has then gone on to win a host of PDC events and the Premier League title – which he claimed at the O2 Arena by beating world champion Luke Humphries in May.
He also finished his first season in the World Series as the No1 ranked player.
He has joined Jude Bellingham on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list.
And the teenage titan even had to snub an invite from the WWE.
The Sun exclusively revealed that Littler is plotting to create a fitness empire.
He is also cashing in away from the Oche thanks to an Instagram side hustle.
And he’s even the face of a brand new cereal.
But he is newly single after splitting from girlfriend Eloise Milburn following a 10-month relationship.
Check out all of our latest Luke Littler stories.