The Luke Littler clash that has ignited Gary Anderson fire ahead of World Darts Championship as he drops quip

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Gary Anderson could meet Luke Littler in the World Darts Championship final - but a meeting with the teenage sensation has got his juices flowing

Gary Anderson says an epic clash with Luke Littler has got him in the right frame of mind for attacking the World Darts Championship.

The action is underway at Ally Pally and the Flying Scotsman from Musselburgh takes to the stage on Sunday in a round two clash with Jeffrey de Graaf. He comes into the tournament at Ally Pally as one of the favourites after a strong 2024, looking to become a three-time winner.

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Teenage sensation Littler battled it out with Anderson in a 16-15 classic at the Grand Slam en-route to the youngster winning the tournament, but his experienced opponent loved the battle. It sets him up nicely for a crack at the world’s biggest tournament, with the possibility of a Littler vs Anderson real due to the seedings, with a quip dropped on the Englishman’s manner.

He said: “It really got me going, proper game, four legs up on him, I had to hold my throw once and I made a mess of it. Even afterwards, I watched when Luke beat me, you could see the kind of relief in his face, so I went, I’ve pushed you, It’s good, it gives me a wee bit of a buzz and it does kind of give you that twinkle. Little things give me a wee tweak and I need that to keep going.

“There’s some cracking darts players out there and it’s still nice to be involved playing against them. If you look at his games in the semis and the final, it was an old 54-year-old that kind of took him all the way. I like things like that, I like to see, can I still play up to their standard. My finishing that night was great, my scoring wasn’t too good.

"Minehead first round, my doubles were absolutely shocking. If I could have got a bit of that scoring against Luke as well as my finishing, then it might have been a different story. But it was a pleasurable game to play in. I mean, the boy’s good, he’s got something special. You know what? He doesn’t care, does he? He does not care.

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“I said how do you explain Luke Littler? I said, if the building went on fire and everyone’s running out screaming hysterically, he would just slant across, pick his coat up, and just saunter out the building.

"He’s so laid back, very quiet lad, but his talent’s through the roof. I’ve played darts in the time with your Phil Taylors, who ruled the world. Then it went onto Van Gerwen, we’ve got Luke Humphries now and I think very shortly we’re going to have young Littler, he’s fantastic. But then we’ve got so many other players.”

On his tournament chances, Anderson added via the Daily Record: "I can take that [two titles] to my box with me, can’t I? It’s been good. I’ve had a cracking career.I never get excited beforehand. It’s, like I say, driving up that hill when you see the palace sitting up there. That’s when it all kicks in.

"I usually go a couple of days before and I’ll head up just to get the feel of the atmosphere in the venue. I used to go and sit and watch boys building the stage. Just get a feel for the place. I’ll do the walk-on, don’t care, but as soon as that foot hits that top step, then it all goes kinda: Right. You’re here to do a job, so get on. Once you get on that stage and you start playing in the crowd and that, it automatically switches on."

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