Luke Littler has shed more light on his tears following his World Darts Championship victory over Ryan Meikle on Saturday night.

The darts star took to the oche cheered on by a raucous crowd at Alexandra Palace.


But Littler struggled at times during his clash with Meikle, with his fellow Englishman putting up a fight as he lost 3-1 in north London.

Littler has already revealed that nerves affected him, which is certainly understandable given his young age.

Luke Littler has shed more light on his tears following his World Darts Championship victory over Ryan Meikle on Saturday night

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And the teenager has now told talkSPORT that he thought ‘I don’t want to be here’ during the showdown as he struggled to keep his cool.

The 17-year-old, who made the final of the same competition at the start of the year, said: “All week I was looking forward, excited to play on stage, no nerves.

“The train journey down here was fine, just being myself.

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“And then as soon as I got on that stage, it was like, ‘I don’t want to be here.’ Just in my head.

“It was tough, but I dragged myself over the line.”

Littler dropped the first set against Meikle, who oozed confidence during the early stages of their showdown.

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And the prodigy has confessed that he was struggling to contain his opponent before forcing himself to stay focused and dig deep to go through to the third round.

“The first set was just absolute nerves. Obviously I broke him and then come on for the second set with the throw and just didn’t do awfully much about it,” he continued.

“I always say after those two breaks, you say to yourself, ‘That’s it now, you’ve had your two breaks.'”

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Luke Littler

Luke Littler is through to the third round of the World Darts Championship

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Meanwhile, also on Sunday night, Welshman Nick Kenny was moved to tears after eliminating darts icon Raymond van Barneveld from the tournament.

The 32-year-old won 3-1 up to set up a meeting with Luke Humphries in the next round.

And Kenny was delighted in his post-match interview, saying: “It’s surreal, there’s a bit more to it, I have kept my tour card, I believe.

Luke Littler

Luke Littler shared an emotional embrace with his parents after winning against Ryan Meikle at the World Darts Championship

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“It was an absolute privilege to play Raymond van Barneveld on such a stage, he wasn’t at his best but who cares really?

“It is the biggest win of my life by far, it gives me another two years on tour.

“There was a lot more riding on it personally, I can really move on and really sort myself out.”