Two Scottish darts prodigies have told how they beat world champion Luke Littler a year ago… and now plan to come after his title. Littler stunned the sporting world when he lifted the PDC World Championship Darts trophy on Friday at the age of just 17 and bagged a £500,000 prize.
But the Sunday Mail can reveal a team of young Scottish players beat Littler’s England team to take the junior World Cup title in December 2023. Mitchell Lawrie and Kyle Davidson – who were aged just 13 and 12 at the time of the win – were part of the group who secured the win in the semi finals of the Junior World Cup of Darts in Gibraltar.
Mitchell, from Renfrew, now 14, has played darts for 11 years after a family holiday and practices up to three hours a day. He said: “My grandad was a bit drunk on holiday and he took the dartboard down off the wall and I just started throwing. Since then I’ve always played.
“I’m a really competitive person and I feel like I’m in my natural habitat when I’m playing because of that. About a year and a half ago I started playing in bigger competitions, putting more hours in on the practice board and I started winning more things. I definitely want to get to the world championships like Luke has, I know I can do it.
Mitchell, who goes by the stage name ‘Wee Sox’, added: “Darts has also given me the chance to go all over the world and meet people – from the Netherlands, Wales, England, loads of places.” Teammate Kyle, from Kilwinning, now 13, said it was “amazing” to be part of the team that beat Littler’s squad and joked that the 17-year-old did “alright” in his latest contest.
The teenager, whose nickname is ‘The Destroyer’, said: “I watched Luke winning, yeah he was alright. I think for any young person I’d say just keep practicing, get out to competitions and you’ll get better. I’ve been playing since I was five, my papa used to play a lot and he got me into darts.”
Alongside teammates Sophie McKinlay, 18, and Logan Gilmour, 14, Mitchell and Kyle went on to become World Champions after securing a win over Ireland in the finals. Since Littler emerged on the adult professional darts scene last year and made it to the world championship final at the age of 16 the sport has seen a surge in interest both from spectators and younger players.
The ‘Littler effect’ has extended to Scotland where organisers say youth clubs and academies are booming with new members. Craig Mitchell, head of the Junior Darts Championships (JDC) Scotland, said: “Youth darts in Scotland is in a great place at the moment. Scotland won the JDC World Cup in 2023 defeating an England team that included Luke Littler in the semi final.
“Luke’s success since that has had a major impact on numbers attending youth tournaments throughout the world. Just this weekend we had 52 entries at our event – a record for JDC Scotland.” Mitchell’s mum Lyn Lawrie said darts was a fantastic sport for children to get into.
She said: “We felt even last year when Luke Littler came on the scene there was a massive intake of kids from the previous years. At JDC competitions there were more people, more academies were opening up. I think it’s a great thing for kids to get involved in because there just isn’t a lot for kids to do nowadays.
“These kids can go and practice darts, they’re practising maths at the same time and meeting other kids. It’s keeping them occupied and not sitting in front of their screens or computers.” Kyle’s mum Claire said: “The social side of it is really important. Most of Kyle’s friends are all in darts and to see them together is great.
“It’s hard when they have to play each other but when they’re playing as a team it’s brilliant. Kyle and Mitchell have travelled the world for the last year and the amount of nationalities that they’ve got as friends is unreal, people from all walks of life that they’d never come across on your normal day-to-day routine. We have to do a lot of fundraising to afford it but it’s absolutely worth it.”
Littler himself said he was aware of the impact he was having on a new generation of darts fans. The 17-year-old from Warrington said: “When we come off stage it’s great to see the family section full of mums, dads and young children. And most of them have my darts shirt on. So I know what I’ve done for the sport and it’s good to see young kids there.”
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