MICHAEL SMITH claims Luke Littler’s rapid rise has angered many opponents.
Bully Boy will meet the Premier League Darts table-topper, 17, in next Thursday’s play-off semi-final.
The 2023 world champion says Littler is a “really nice kid” who the other players try to “look after”.
But the 37-year-old also believes some stars have been upset by the PDC giving the Nuke what might be seen as a leg-up.
Smith reckons there was unfair irritation at 2024 world championship finalist Littler being picked for the Prem and other opportunities the PDC have given him.
He said: “I think they are getting annoyed. I had it last year, Littler is getting it all now.
“I don’t think they are happy that he’s getting everything. I’m not bothered.
“The players at 70 in the world shouldn’t be bothered because this young kid at the minute is one of the best players in the world.
“The people at 70, 80, 90 all they should think about is that their money is going to keep going up and up and up.
“The more this kid is playing, we get better sponsors, hopefully Eddie (Hearn) puts the prize money up again, £1,000 to £1,500 on the ProTour.
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“Just because of Littler we’ve gone from being wherever we were in the ratings to only now the Premier League football in the UK is out rating us. Just because of that kid.”
Smith added: “I thought it would have been because of my nine-darter in the world final. I’m not gutted because I know for a fact I’ve still got 14, 15, 16 years left.
“My money is just going to keep going up because some kid is doing it for me.
“I’m not annoyed and the other players shouldn’t either. The kid is doing nothing wrong.
“If you go back to the 2008 world final John Part v Kirk Shepherd, Kirk was the only world finalist to not get in the Premier League.
“He wasn’t Luke. People are annoyed that he got in and I can say there’s a couple of the boys in the top 16 who are annoyed. But he is going to pocket us so much money.
“It was the same a few years ago when Fallon beat Ted and Mensur in the world championships. She did the same thing.
“People were annoyed that she got World Series. But you have to look at the bigger picture. The bigger picture is that darts is growing.
“If you stick around and you are good enough to stay in the top 32, they are making it grow. As long as the sport is growing, who cares?”
LUKE LITTLER has taken the darts world by storm since exploding onto the scene at the PDC World Championship.
The Nuke reached the final on his Ally Pally debut at just 16 years of age – smashing records along the way.
He has since joined Jude Bellingham on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list.
And the teenage titan even had to snub an invite from the WWE.
The Sun exclusively revealed that Littler is plotting to create a fitness empire.
He is also cashing in away from the Oche thanks to an Instagram side hustle.
And he’s even the face of a brand new cereal.
Check out all of our Luke Littler stories here.
