"He's a very, very good player" - Luke Littler gives seal of approval to 15-year-old super-talent Mitchell Lawrie as record-breaking Lakeside debut awaits
WDFSunday, 30 November 2025 at 20:11
A new teenage darts sensation is breaking records once owned by Luke Littler — and the reigning PDC World Champion has given his seal of approval.
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Mitchell Lawrie, a 15-year-old from Scotland, will officially become the youngest player ever to compete at the WDF World Championship at Lakeside this week, overtaking Littler’s record held since 2022. And the numbers suggest this isn’t just a feel-good story — it’s the emergence of the next major star.
Mitchell Lawrie breaks Luke Littler’s WDF record
Lawrie’s rise has been rapid and ruthless. At just 15 years old, he's won:
the British Open
the Welsh Open
the Irish Classic
That treble makes him the youngest player in history to win three senior WDF titles — smashing Littler’s previous record.
He’ll start his maiden World Championship run against Tomoya Maruyama, with a potential showdown against No.2 seed Jason Brandon waiting in round two.
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Luke Littler’s reaction: “He’s a very, very good player”
Littler has been watching Lawrie’s progress closely — and he’s impressed. "He's a very, very good player at such a young age like myself. Obviously, I think about my record for winning a WDF Open," Littler says in quotes collected by Sky Sports. "So that's another one he has taken off me but he's a very good player."
Littler famously handled huge expectations as a teenager. Now he sees the same challenges — and the same potential — in Lawrie.
"It is crazy. He's got to wait years for the Development Tour. But for now, he's just got to keep at it because he's got to wait. But there's plenty of opportunities out there for now for tournaments to go and win."
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Littler’s advice for Lawrie: patience, focus, and keeping the head down
For all the hype around Lawrie, Littler says the real task is mental.
"You have just got to keep your head down. You still have got to keep going," he added. "Because I think at 14, 15, I was like 'oh it's another year till I can go on the Development Tour'. He's definitely thinking the same the way he's been playing. So just keep his head down and yeah you'll be on Tour."
It’s a blueprint Littler lived himself — and it turned him into a world champion before his 18th birthday.
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Another breakout star: Paige Pauling chasing WDF history
It’s not just Lawrie making headlines. Paige Pauling, the 17-year-old girls’ world No.1, has become only the second player ever to qualify for both the WDF Girls World Championship and the WDF Women’s World Championship in the same season.
If she goes on to lift the women’s trophy, Pauling will become the youngest women’s world champion of all time, overtaking Beau Greaves’ record from 2022.
Pauling would be 17 years, eight months and 23 days old on finals day — another potential landmark for a new generation taking over the WDF stage.
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Kieran WoodDarts Journalist
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He contributes to DartsNews.com, where he covers professional darts through news, match reports, analysis, and live coverage across the PDC calendar and major tournaments.
A key part of his work is on-site reporting from leading events. Kieran has covered the PDC World Darts Championship in person, reporting daily from the venue and providing first-hand insight from the tournament. During his coverage, he has conducted interviews with leading players including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price.
He is also one of the leading voices of the English-language Dartsnews Podcast, contributing regular analysis and discussion on developments across the professional darts circuit.
In his reporting, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles when new, verified information becomes available.
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- Need to see her take part in the womens tour. She'll break the inernet.medinabello08-09-2026
- If he can be bothered? He won't play darts in Germany yet he'll go over and get an award!??rick6702-09-2026
- Why is this the main story? He chose not to compete in loads of tournaments,yes he's number 1 in the world,but he does have to turn up at tournaments! Play the next world championship in Dortmund and see if he turns up!!rick6727-08-2026
- This is exactly what I mean,littler survives the 1st round,I think you'll find a lot of other players did. Can you just report on the real sport,and not just 1 person. I like Luke,but this is getting boring now,as Kevin painter once said to Taylor!! The sport is about every player,not 1 who everyone seems to have put the sport on the map.,which he hasn't,he's just got in when the money is massive. Great as he is,it seems like what's the point in anyone trying,he's going to win everything,unless it's in Germany or Australia!!!rick6726-08-2026
- I mean look, Littler's picture is first,wattimena is second and he won! Level it up. I know littler is fantastic,but the sport was here before him,and will be when he's retired. Any player in the top 64/128 can beat each other,it's not big news. Poor Jermaine,wins it,and not even the headline!!rick6726-08-2026
- I appreciate that littler is a fantastic player,but the top 3 articles are about him. Before he'd thrown a dart in the tournament. Level it out a bit, Taylor and van gerwen soon got disliked as the media could only see them,and nobody else seemed to matterrick6725-08-2026
- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
- I'd happily pay for a site free of Van der Voort's every squeak and utterance.StraightArrowNoBull19-08-2026
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