Ian White insists Luke Humphries remains the man to beat at the World Darts Championship despite Luke Littler being heavily backed to win the title.
White faces off against Littler after Christmas for a spot in the fourth round of the World Darts Championship.
He secured his spot to face Littler with an upset win over 2024 European champion Ritchie Edhouse after being given a bye in the first round.
White knows he’s up against it when he faces the highly-talented teenager and is excited about the challenge.
Luke Littler needed just 32 darts to win his opening match
PA
When asked how much he was looking forward to facing Littler, White replied: “Loving it.
“That’s what I wanted. That was my goal to get through after Christmas and play Luke.
“The lad’s talented ain’t he. We all know that. He’s put the darts on the map again.
“Everyone wants to come to the darts and that’s the best thing that’s ever happened to us.
“But I just wanted to say he’s from Runcorn the same as me so he’s No 2, I’m No 1 [laughs].”
White also joked that he’ll have to hit three nine-darters to stand a chance against Littler, who needed just 32 darts to take all three legs against Ryan Meikle with a record-breaking 140.91 average.
“What did he do yesterday? 11, 10, 11 [darts to win a leg],” White added.
“I’ll [have to go] nine, nine, nine! Top main ain’t he.
“He’s playing good darts and I think at the end of the day, just go up and enjoy it and I’m just going to give him the best game I can.”
Luke Littler is the favourite ahead of Luke Humphries Getty
Littler’s incredible start to the tournament has only increased his backing to go all the way this year with many tipping him to challenge Phil Taylor’s era of dominance in the sport.
But White feels neither Humphries or Michael van Gerwen should be overlooked in keeping Littler at bay.
“There’s a big hype at the moment and he’s a good lad but we’ve got the best world champion going at the moment,” White said.
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Ian White is ready for the challenge of facing Luke Littler
PA
“Luke Humphries is unbelievable. You’ve got Michael van Gerwen who’s No 2.
“These lads aren’t going to give it up. It doesn’t matter how much Luke Littler can do, he’s going to have knock these boys off their perch.
“At the end of the day, they are top players. Luke Humphries is our champion and that’s it.”