"I never say it, maybe I should": Luke Littler won't call himself the best in the world despite heroics

Luke Littler is through his opener at the Winmau World Masters defeating Andy Baetens with consummate ease. The darting world assembling to see the great 18-year-old talent for the first time in the UK since his World Darts Championship triumph.

Littler spoke after his win and said about the new format as well as the busy schedule which is to come and him harbouring ambitions to seal the title.

"It's a weird format but definitely got used to it. Of course 2-0 up in sets, 4/4 on the doubles and then I just needed to wrap that last set up which I did. I settled very quickly but I was happy with the performance overall," said Littler.

"This is it now the busy schedule starts. I'd love to (win the title) but it's still a very strong field. Against James Wade it won't be an easy task so I'll have to play like I did tonight."

He was asked about the Premier League and also whether he can call himself the best in the world and while he does have belief that perhaps he is, he said he won't say it.

"I'm looking forward to a very busy 16 weeks hopefully get the top four and go to the O2 again. The only difference is that I'm World Champion, maybe that comes with pressure but I'm just looking forward to it all."

"I never say it, maybe I should. Obviously if you win the World's, they class the World Champion as the best but I'll never say it."

While with the European Tour changes, he also gets the chance to head there later but he said the caveat is that he still has to fly a day earlier anyway.

"Last year was brutal but obviously I've got myself up in the Euro Tour rankings so I get to play on the Saturday."