8-year-old prodigy caps off "incredible year" with victory over hero Luke Littler in exhibition

Whilst still only young himself, 17-year-old Luke Littler has been an inspiration to the next generation of darting superstars since his emergence at the back end of 2023. 'The Nuke' famously reached the World Darts Championship final on debut at the Alexandra Palace, before going on to win the 2024 Premier League Darts in his first campaign.

One of those youngsters inspired by Littler's recent brilliance, has been 8-year-old Noah, from Northampton. At a recent exhibition, the darts mad young lad got to live out his dream as well, by not only getting to go on stage and playing against his hero, but actually beating Littler in front of a packed crowd in Cardiff as PDC referee Huw Ware counted the scores.

Noah has been training up to 16 hours a week of late and his potential was on full display in Cardiff. Asked if his year could get any better, having managed got the win over Littler on stage, Noah reflected: "Not really, no," and could hardly keep the beaming smile from off of his face.

"It's been a very, very exciting weekend. It was amazing, absolutely amazing. It's been an incredible year, he's loving every minute of it."," added Noah's mum, Helen in quotes collected by the BBC, also full of praise for Littler and how he handled the situation with his young fan. "He was an absolute gentleman, he was so, so lovely."

As a reward for his win, Littler even gifted young Noah a set of his 'The Nuke' flights as a souvenir to remember the occasion. With Noah also revealing plans to join the Buckinghamshire County darts scene very soon, it's likely the 8-year-old prodigy will be picking up many more older victims over the coming years and we wish him the best of luck!