Luke Littler has reached the quarter-finals of the World Darts Championship after a stunning victory over Raymond van Barneveld.
The 16-year-old beat the Dutchman 4-1 in his round of 16 match at Alexandra Palace on Saturday night (December 30). Littler, who was born in Runcorn and lives in Warrington, has set the Alexandra Palace tournament alight on debut and has become the youngest ever player to reach the last eight.
Littler's victory over five-time world champion van Barneveld saw him hit the treble 20 nine times and finish with an average of 105.01. He has become a household name during his first World Championship campaign – making headlines for his tender age and a fondness for takeaways to celebrate victories.
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However, Littler, who is a product of the St Helens Darts Academy, apologised for speaking to The S*n for an article yesterday, in which he was pictured holding a copy of the paper in one hand and a kebab in the other.
In a public statement issued on X, formerly known as Twitter, he apologised for the move, which was criticised as the newspaper is boycotted on Merseyside for false claims made on its front page in the days following the Hillsborough disaster.
Littler's full statement said: "Today a photograph of me holding up a newspaper has been published in the media. The media attention I have been getting is very new to me and I didn't fully understand at the time what I was being asked to do.
"In no way do I endorse that newspaper or the headline which accompanied the article and I sincerely apologise for any offence this has caused. I'm focusing now on my next match with Barney and would like to thank everyone for their amazing support."
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