Luke Littler pulls out of tournament as darts chief admits major fears over burnout for 17-year-old sensation
LUKE LITTLER is in huge demand by showbiz A-listers but is being protected from suffering BURNOUT.
The teen sensation has had an unbelievable week of starring on the Jonathan Ross Show and then winning the Belgian Darts Open with a sensational nine-darter.
Just days later he smashed Michael van Gerwen with a record Premier League average this year of 114 before appearing on Comic Relief and Fantasy Football League.
Littler has pulled out of the Players Championships in Germany on Monday and Tuesday prior to his next appearance in the Premier League in Dublin on Thursday night.
Professional Darts Corporation chief executive Matt Porter has revealed that the 17-year-old’s schedule is being monitored day-by-day.
He told the Love The Darts podcast: “The media demands are high, still getting a lot of requests for high-end content.
“We saw him on The Jonathan Ross Show, he’s doing Comic Relief, there are a lot of A-list people that want to speak to Luke which is great for him and great for darts and it’s important that is managed properly.
“His manager Martin (Foulds) is excellent, his family are very supportive, we’re involved and it’s a team effort really just to make sure everything is geared around giving him the optimal opportunity to be the best he can on the oche and just get enough rest and time to himself to be a normal 17-year-old as best he can away from that.
“It’s early days, it’s hard to think we’re only three months into the Luke Littler story but who knows how long it might last?”
Porter also admitted that Littler’s early ranking success is helping to reduce the necessity of playing so much.
He added: “What’s been really positive is Luke’s recent wins are going to help his schedule because it will reduce the number of qualifiers he has to play in which will be good for him.
“We’ve got a full safeguarding policy, we’ve had a heavy involvement in youth darts for a decade now so we’re well versed in dealing with minors
“Not always at this level to be fair, but nevertheless there’s a grounding in place and a lot of very experienced qualified people in place, support networks, the PDPA (Professional Darts Players Association) are there, everybody is fully aware of the situation.
“Luke’s diary is kind of being managed on a short-term basis because it will change so frequently.
“We aren’t looking ahead to August, September, October, November yet.
“It’s very much on what’s going to work this month to give him as much chance to play darts as he does to rest from darts.”
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