08/02/2024

Luke Littler a nightmare for PDC's spotters says Colin Lloyd: "If he wants to go a fandangled way, he’ll go that way"

The rise of Luke Littler has been absolutely brilliant for darts, with record numbers of viewers and worldwide attention for the sport. For the people who have to televise darts, however, the job has become a bit harder.

An important behind-the-scenes force at darts tournaments is the spotter. This person, often a former dart player, directs the cameramen where to aim when a player is throwing. Also, the cameraman has to make sure the camera is zoomed in on the right part of the board when players are on a crucial double.

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At the World Darts Championship, Keith Deller, Colin Lloyd and Richard Ashdown were working as spotters. They had to adjust quite a bit to Littler's quirky finishing routes. The fact that the 17-year-old teen sensation is also very fast only added to the challenge.

"Er, horrendous," is how Lloyd describes the job of spotting Littler in conversation with Daily Star Sport. "Luke’s got his own fandangled way of going, very much like Simon Whitlock and Rob Cross. They’ve all got their own ways going and it’s just a matter of picking up on them."

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"When someone’s gone for a shot in a match and you’ve called it and, a few legs later, he’s left the same finish, you automatically think he’s going to go that way. But Luke sometimes doesn’t, he’ll go the way he feels comfortable. If he wants to go a fandangled way, he’ll go that way. But that’s the life of being a spotter in championship darts.”

Given his age, Littler will no doubt come up with more new finish routes to keep Lloyd and his fellow spotters on their toes. "He will do," 'Jaws' continued. "He’s not afraid of using the dartboard, that’s what it’s all about. I learnt the old-style ways because I’m of that age. But I’ve had to adapt and adjust to certain shot-outs. This younger generation have got their own ways of going and, nine times out 10, it comes off, so good luck to them.”