"It’s unsustainable for any player" - Manager of Luke Littler hits the brakes as busy schedule begins to take toll

Luke Littler has barely had any rest since the World Darts Championship and such a busy schedule is beginning to take its toll according to the manager of the teenage sensation.

Martin Foulds of ZXF Sports Management stressed that the teenager's schedule is being closely monitored. "He’s pretty much in every TV event for the rest of the year without throwing another dart. There’s no off-season in darts. You’ve got to travel to these events – you don’t just time-warp and you’re in Belfast, Graz, Munich, Rotterdam," Foulds told the BBC. "It’s unsustainable for any player to travel and play all of those events. When you’re playing in the Premier League especially, travelling can take its toll on anybody. He’s still a teenager, still 17 – if he wasn’t playing darts, he’d be doing an apprenticeship or still be in school."

Foulds also insisted that there are "duties of care" for Littler, who has shown how much he loves the sport of darts. "So there are duties of care we have to follow to look after Luke as best as we can. The other day he had to come in, do some paperwork, some shirt signings," he continued.

"He’s sat in my meeting room and he’s got two phones on with two different streams of the Players Championship. He’s not at the darts but he’s still watching it – he just loves the game."