For Luke Littler, the darts-mad 16-year-old who first played on a magnetic board as a toddler, just winning one match at the PDC World Championship was a historic achievement.
But with each passing win he keeps setting his heights ever higher.
And after sweeping past Brendan Dolan to set up a semi-final against Rob Cross on Tuesday, Littler now has his eyes on the biggest prize of all.
“It’s going to take a lot to stop me,” he said.
“It feels unbelievable. I never thought I would have got to the semis on my debut year.
“It’s crazy watching myself at 18 months or two years old in a nappy, but it has all paid off.
“One day we went to a shop with my parents and I pointed to a magnetic dartboard because they look similar. The rest is history.”
Littler’s rise has been meteoric. The Alexandra Palace fans were taunting him with chants of “you’ve got school in the morning” during his first-round win over Christian Kist on 20 December, when he became the youngest player to win a match at the tournament.
Less than two weeks later he has banked £100,000 in prize money, is being asked for selfies everywhere he goes and watching Premier League matches in the executive box.
“I’ve been to an Arsenal game, I went to a Tottenham game – people come up to me. I don’t know who these people are but they know me,” said Littler. “It is a good feeling and I will always take a picture with anyone.
“I was in (Tottenham midfielder) James Maddison’s box. It was good to meet him, get a few pictures and meet his family. It was really nice.”
Standing between Littler and a place in the final is world number eight Cross, who made history himself by becoming the first player to fight back from 4-0 to beat Chris Dobey 5-4 in his quarter-final.
Cross won the World Championship on his debut in 2018 and thinks Littler has similar momentum behind him now.
“Everyone loves an underdog story,” Cross said. “It took a bit of pressure off me winning it first time as well.
“He’s fantastic and he deserves all the luck in the world – he is a nice young boy. Tomorrow we play darts, though, and I have to go down to business.”
