Luke Littler has been warned that he could become a target for the press now he has turned 18, as Vincent van der Voort says the world champion must be careful.
The Nuke turned 18 this week and has already accomplished more in his short career than the vast majority of people who have ever picked up a dart.
The teenager has been to back-to-back World Championship finals and now holds the sport’s greatest prize after beating Michael van Gerwen for the title earlier this month.
His story has captured the attention of the British public, with Littler winning the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award and finishing runner-up in the main category.
Van der Voort, a four-time PDC ranking event-winner, feels the world champ has enjoyed a lot of good will from the media so far, but predicts that things could change at any moment now he is an adult.
‘He was the up-and-coming guy for a while and now he’s there. He’s also loved by the press, but in the long run that’s going to change,’ Van der Voort said on podcast Darts Draait Door, via Darts News.
‘When you’re still a kid, they’re still lenient on you. Once they see you as an adult, they don’t mind taking you under.
‘Luke will have to watch out for it. You’re about to get that the press wants a scandal from him, too. There are stories that people are paid to try to frame other people. So that will be watchful for him.’
The Dutchman reckons that the nature of coverage will change, while also the sheer amount of media commitments could go through the roof if Littler’s team allows them to, both from the press and the PDC.
However, Van der Voort is not full of sympathy given the riches that have come with Littler’s success.
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‘They always want to know what you think of something,’ he continued. ‘It will be hard for him to start cancelling things, because the PDC wants him for everything.
‘Nobody needs to feel sorry for Littler, because he gets paid handsomely for it. And that can only get more now.’
The world champion has already been back on the oche since his Alexandra Palace glory, but fell at the quarter-final stage at the Bahrain Darts Masters.
He is back into World Series action this weekend at the Dutch Darts Masters in Den Bosch.
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