"Luke Littler is great for the sport and my players benefit from that as well" - Manager Matt Ward has nothing but praise for 17-year-old Englishman

Matt Ward represents several darters with his management agency, MDA Events. As such, he is well positioned to assess the "Luke Littler effect" on the sport of darts since bursting onto the scene at the recent World Darts Championship.

With MDA Events, Ward represents players such as Ricky Evans and Ritchie Edhouse. Until last year, Daryl Gurney also belonged to this management agency. "Ricky had a great UK Open. But none of them are ready to go to the top level just yet and the results would show that," Ward assesses of his stable in conversation with Online Darts. "That next step is the hardest one to take but Ritchie Edhouse is taking that at the moment I'd say."

Ward himself though, is starting to take more of a back seat in his management. "I don't want to be travelling. I don't want to be doing it full time," he explains. "I've got the players I've got and I love them to bits. Although I don't go as much, I still back them 100 percent. I've got a 4-year-old son and he's now my priority. I want to spend as much time as possible with him."

Ward also indicates that his players are taking advantage of the Luke Littler effect as the teenager takes to new audiences with his impact on the sport. "It's amazing what he's accomplishing at such a young age," Ward says. "He is having a great effect on darts. He's getting views and that is what we need. Darts is in the mainstream again and that's down to him."

"He sort of done with darts what Anthony Joshua did with boxing around 10 to 12 years ago and he is very marketable," Ward concludes. "Arenas are sold out around the country and we have all benefitted. Darts is in a really good place."