EXCLUSIVE
Darts star Peter Wright has lifted the lid on teenage sensation Luke Littler’s rather unusual pre-match routine.
Littler's rise to superstardom began during his run to the World Championship final at Alexandra Palace in January.
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The 17-year-old was eventually beaten by Luke Humphries but captured the heart of the nation with his performances.
He has since gone on to lift the Bahrain Masters title, the Belgian Open and the Austrian Open, and earned himself a place in Premier League Darts where he has won three times so far.
Littler is known for his cool and calm persona on stage but Wright revealed his pre-match ritual is a little different to that of the seasoned pros.
“He’s doing fantastic and he’s great for the sport,” Wright told talkSPORT.
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“Like all the other guys and myself, we practice a lot in the back room. He [Littler] just sits there on his phone, gets up and has about five minutes, then walks on the stage and spanks everyone!”
Wright, a two-time World Champion, credits both Littler and Humphires as the best players the sport currently has at its disposal.
However, the 54-year-old Scot still harbours ambitions of knocking the pair off their perch and taking back the mantle of darts’ top dog.
“Both Lukes are the best players in the world at the moment followed by Gary Anderson,” he added.
“They are all great for the sport, hopefully I can get back to form and upset them a little bit.”
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Wright added of Littler in a separate interview: "In the first or second week [of the Premier League], I said to him ‘if you start losing, you can come to me for advice - because you will start losing’. But he hasn’t yet.
"It's what we needed. Michael van Gerwen came on to the scene just after Phil Taylor and raised the bar, and Littler he is doing the same.
"It is good for everyone else, to make us get our fingers out and practice harder."
Wright currently props up the Premier League table and is yet to win a ‘night’ during the current edition.
Nicknamed ‘Snakebite’, Wright has two victories to his name, amassing just four points ahead of night 13 in Aberdeen on Thursday.
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Littler, meanwhile, is top of the Premier League table after five weekly wins and on the brink of securing his place at the four-man play-offs at the O2 in London.
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