Wayne Mardle says it is up to players to rise to the challenge and get “stuck into Luke Littler” after ‘The Nuke’ cemented his position as one of the greats of the sport.Littler overcame the Ally Pally wasp to thrash Gian van Veen and win back-to-back World Championship titles on Saturday night.
The 18-year-old joins Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis and Gary Anderson in winning successive crowns and he is the new king of Alexandra Palace.
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Highlights of the World Championship final between Littler and Gian van Veen
Luke Littler at Ally Pally
3-0 win 3-1 win 4-1 win 4-1 win 5-1 win 6-2 win 7-4 loss 3-1 win 4-1 win 4-3 win 5-2 win 6-1 win 7-3 win 3-0 win 3-0 win 4-0 win 4-2 win 5-0 win 6-1 win 7-1 win
Littler burst onto the scene with an epic debut run to the final two years ago and has not lost on that stage since after a masterful 7-1 win over Van Veen, which earned him a record £1m prize cheque.With an average of almost 106, 15 maximums and a ‘Big Fish’ 170 checkout, this was one of the great final performances.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Mardle said: “Luke Littler has proven time and time again that he can play better for longer than anyone and that’s what it is.
“Thirty-one legs were played, he won 23 of them. It was the limited chances that he gave Van Veen.
“We think he will win more and more.”There’s nothing he can’t do on a dartboard but we are getting to the point where it’s about Luke.”Like when Phil Taylor played well, he won. When Michael van Gerwen played well, he won. It’s about Luke Littler at the moment.”The format doesn’t matter. He’s just the best. Look at how many headstarts he gave everyone at the World Matchplay. He’s the most reliable and if there’s a long format event like this, good luck with that.”Luke just keeps setting himself new challenges. It’s up to the other players to get better, but it’s some standard.”We have some quality players right now but they have to rise and get stuck into Luke Littler.”
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