NATHAN ASPINALL claims Luke Littler does not have many mates on the PDC Tour “because a lot of people are jealous of him”.
And The Nuke acknowledges that he sometimes feels “tension” from others in the practice room.
But his emergence and increased profile has brought in new mega-money sponsorship to the sport.
All eyes over the next 72 hours will be on whether Littler can lift the Sid Waddell Trophy – he is odds-on favourite – and become the youngest world champion in history aged 17.
Aspinall is his last-eight opponent tomorrow and the Stockport man said: “I see myself, not so much of a role model, but a bit of an older brother to him in the darts world.
“We don’t speak much outside of darts but when it comes to darts, I do try to help him. He’s a nice kid.
“He hasn’t got many mates on the tour because a lot of people are jealous of him. I am not.
“I appreciate what he has done for the game. What he has done for himself and his family.
“I think he’s a fantastic darts player. How he has handled himself at 17 with the media.
“I don’t think many men, full-grown adults, could do what he has done. I tip my hat to the guy…but I’m still going to smash him on New Year’s Day!”
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Littler was asked if he thought players are indeed jealous of him, given he has won 10 titles in his debut year and banked more than £1million over the past 12 months.
He responded: “I don’t know. I’d probably say some players do show it, mainly on the Pro Tour.
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“But I’ve seen Scott Williams’s interview, he’s getting sponsorship opportunities, people asking him because of myself.
“So it’s good to see what I’ve done, especially for the players and whatever sponsors they can get.
“It’s definitely not to my face. Not as soon as I walk in, but whenever I’m practising I can just feel that tension. And I just laugh at it.”
Aspinall, 33, has lost seven of his eight clashes with Littler on the oche.
In their first meeting, Littler spectacularly nailed a nine-dart finish in Bahrain en route to picking up the Golden Palm Tree trophy.
The darting duo share the same manager in Martin Foulds but the Asp says their boss will stay away from the VIP seats on this occasion.
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Yet Aspinall joked: “I don’t know who has got the biggest percentage! He might be cheering for that guy.”
He added: “No one’s expecting me to win. Luke is a good friend of mine.
“I’ll enjoy the moment. I think we both will. There’s no pressure on me. I love being the underdog.”
Littler spent New Year’s Eve chilling with his family and now faces another late night – but he loves the prospect of playing on consecutive days.
And despite three tough encounters so far, the afterburners are there if he needs them, as he showed in the final sets against Ryan Meikle and Ryan Joyce.
The Warrington star said: “I’ll play, sleep, wake up. And that’s what I like.
“I prefer not to have days off because right now I’m not practising in-between, so I have to come here a bit earlier and get the practice in.
“Its good to have nerves. Obviously in the first game against Ryan (Meikle), it showed I was human after all.
“To come through that game, it was massive and then these last two games have been huge.”
