Wouldn't say he fell apart, he stayed with Humphries throughout, difference was the number of 180s in the first 3 darts to Humphries, always put Littler on the back foot, was always chasing it. Like Humphries has just said tho, he had to win this one cos Littler's gonna win plenty over the next few years!
I don't remember Kirk Shepherd being hyped so much when he lost a world final when few had heard of him before the tournament. What's more impressive for Humphries is that he beat four different opponents for his four TV titles in four consecutive months. People can't say he was lucky beating the same guy every time.
See I'm not so sure he is going to win plenty. A bit like the kid Kirk Shepherd who burst onto the scene in circa 2008 but comfortably lost the final to John Part. He now hasn't picked up a dart in 3 years due to dartitis. Not saying Littler will fall away like Shepherd did but there's sure going to be a lot more pressure on him now.
You don't seem to like Littler very much, mate? Very passive aggressive I think a big reason why he didn't get hyped so much is due to it being in 2008. Social media was still in its infancy, compared to today, especially sites like Twitter. And just the general natural growth of darts
I like Littler and he's great for the game. It's just one tournament though, let's see what happens. Sky and the media in general have hyped loads through the years that didn't live up to it.
Can't really liken it to owt in darts. I just hope he doesn't end up being next best thing like Jimmy White did. It's hard to deliver on future champion tag. Going back to darts Keith Dellar never followed up.
It did him good. Lots of players can make a claim to "deserve" to be one of the eight for the glorified exhibition roadshow. Someone is bound to be whinging about not getting picked.
In fairness Humphries was ranked 5th in the World and had been very consistent whereas Chris Dobey was ranked 15th but got picked cos he’d just won the Masters. But like you say best thing happened to him.
Kirk Shepherd wasn’t hyped as much because he was nowhere near as good as Littler is. Even the very best version of Shepherd get’s annihilated by Littler 10 times out of 10.
I don’t think he will take the defeat badly. He seems to have his head screwed on and a decent family / support base that will look after him. All the hype and constant media the last couple of weeks must have been draining yet he’s been excellent throughout. He played really well tonight, just ran into someone in the form of his life. Such is sport.
Erm in a legal framework yes it does. The law is the law. Ethics aren’t a consideration. So for me the ethics of dragging something through the press or being talked about on social media like it’s some kind of grooming/pedo case is significantly worse or more damaging than the fact a legal 16 year old has recently started dating a 21 year old.
Yeah it's not a ranking event and half those involved are invited. The line up has been announced. https://www.pdc.tv/news/2024/01/04/humphries-littler-headline-2024-betmgm-premier-league-line Peter Wright has got lucky. Humphries is alright for a Dirty Leeds fan who got named after them.