GREY-HAIRED Ian White tackles likely lad Luke Littler in a prime-time Saturday-night slot – 30 years after a pub rivalry against the talented teen’s GRANDFATHER!
Darts is one of the very few professional sports where a 17-year-old can compete against a 54-year-old on an equal footing.
Littler– who was born in Warrington but once lived in the Cheshire town of Runcorn – will start as favourite tomorrow night to progress into the fourth round of the PDC World Darts Championship.
Yet colourful character White is so much older than The Nuke – there is a 37-year age-gap – that he remembers his own Generation Game against the Littler family in their local boozers.
White laughed: “When I first started in darts, I played against his grandad, Phil Littler.
“That was in Runcorn. I used to beat him all the time! We played for local teams. I played against him loads of times. We had banter.
“I wouldn’t have seen Luke in those days in the pub – he wasn’t even born then. That was in the 90s.
“I saw Phil not that long ago. It was a bad time, though. It was at a funeral.
“When I spoke to his grandad, he went: ‘Watch out, Luke’s playing well.’
“But Luke has got to turn 18 yet. He has got to have a beer. He has got to be with the girls.
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“I just want to say that he’s from Runcorn – the same as me – so he’s No.2 and I’m No 1!”
It is just as well that White was not watching Littler’s second-round game against Ryan Meikle last Saturday – he had the heavyweight boxing on the TV instead.
Littlerwas vulnerable at the start, and could have been 2-0 down over the best-of-five sets, but an electric five-minute spell saw him triumph 3-1 thanks to a record set average of 140.91.
White – nicknamed ‘Diamond’ after the cider – first played on the BDO ranks in 2005, two years before Littler was born.
The world No.57 said: “The lad is talented. He has put darts on the map.
“Everyone wants to come to the darts now. All the sponsors. That’s the best thing that has happened to us.
“I have no pressure. I will go out there and play my darts. Hopefully the nine-darters will come in – I’ll probably need about eight of them against Luke.”
White, who loves to clown around, is one of those guys that plays consistently well on the floor, in the behind-closed-doors ProTour events, but never turns it on for the cameras.
His best display at a televised major was a semi-final run at the 2019 Players Championship Finals.
Only once in 12 previous PDC World Championships appearances has he been beyond the fourth round.
That was in Runcorn. I used to beat him all the time! We played for local teams. I played against him loads of times. We had banter.
Ian White on Luke Littler's grandad
White continued: “Look, Luke hasn’t got to worry about the Poll Tax. He hasn’t got bills to pay. Wait until he has a kid himself!
“At 17 years old, I don’t think I was playing darts. I had hair down to here.
“Ripped jeans. Listening to heavy metal. Off to Donington to watch Iron Maiden. With my motorbikes. That’s what I was doing.
“I have to get up there and silence the crowd or get the crowd on my side. That will be hard.
“I have seen one of my tops around the place. But you look at how many Luke’s replica tops people are wearing. All these young kids are loving that.
“Listen, if I went up there and won, it would probably be one of the best things of my career. It’d be one of my biggest games.
“I remember playing Michael van Gerwen in Holland and all the people behind him were all booing me.
“I was throwing at 10 and I was cacking it. But I hit the score and won.
“Things like that you’ll always remember when you finish darts. If I went on and beat Luke now, I’d have everyone out there booing me.
“But every darts player backstage would be shaking my hand! Saying: ‘Well done, Ian.’ I am telling you…”
White is an unconventional guy and brought two supermarket carrier bags full of stuff with him for the second-round win over Ritchie Edhouse last Sunday.
He joked: “‘I’m like the darts version of Coronation Street’s Roy Cropper!”
On the stage, he entertains fans by doing the ‘DAB’ celebration, which was made famous in football circles by France and ex-Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba.
It came about when he was dared to do so on TV by his stepdaughter and has carried on ever since.
He does not have a dartboard at home and will only begin the practice load today before a date withLittlerin front of millions.
In the past, he has practised with – and held his own against – the likes of Adrian Lewis, John Part, Michael Smith and Phil Taylor.
He said: “Those guys all went on to win these championships – I am thinking to myself: What’s going on here?’
“I must charge more when I’m practising with them. They all became world champions.
“So, I won’t be practising with LukeLittler. I won’t even give him my number!”
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