luk-ing ahead
Luke Littler warned not everything in darts is ‘nicey-nicey’ as rivals suffer breakdowns over social media abuse
Aspinall revealed how he personally deals with his social media
NATHAN ASPINALL has told teen sensation Luke Littler that not everything in sport is “nicey-nicey” – and he should be wary of social media abuse.
Littler, 17, could become £275,000 richer tomorrow night if he wins the Premier League Darts crown on his debut appearance.
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The Warrington ace has had an accomplished transition into the senior ranks, hitting nine-darters, taking out audacious checkouts and winning trophies.
Yet Aspinall – who has had his fair share of online harassment down the years – has warned his stablemate that he will have to deal with adversity at some point.
The Asp, 32, said: “I’ve known Luke for a long time. Everything is roses for him at the minute.
“He’s got nothing to defend. He’s playing at the top of his game. Absolutely nothing to lose. It’s all nicey-nicey now.
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“I was involved in a mental health documentary on Sky Sports. A fantastic piece.
“It was me, Luke Humphries, Michael Smith and Peter Wright, how we dealt with mental health issues.
“I thought it was a great insight which could stop the hatred towards some darts players.
“I don’t want that to happen to Luke. He’s a young lad.
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“I keep saying to people, if he had my head, God help us! We might as well all pack up.
“Listen, he’s a rival but he’s also a friend. I want the best for him. He beats me all the time, which does my head in.
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“I want him to understand that sport is tough, not everything is roses, just have your wits about you. That’s what I am trying to do. But he’s cleverer than he acts.”
Aspinall, who missed out on the four-person playoffs, has put systems in place where he does not view abuse from punters on his online platforms – it is filtered out by someone else before he logs on.
And as darts grows bigger and gains popularity, the Stockport thrower believes the sport will follow football and golf where organisations operate X, Facebook and Instagram accounts of leading stars.
The world No.4 said: “I’m not going to name the names. It’s not fair on them.
“But I know there are players currently playing on the Tour that have absolutely had breakdowns over abuse they get on social media.
“What can do we about that? The problem we have is that darts players are so accessible.
“I speak to some of the footballers on Instagram but predominantly speaking, the accounts are looked after by companies.
“I have a guy that looks after mine. I have put something in place now that if I lose a game, say if I play bad, I won’t touch my Instagram for 2-3 days.
“I have a guy who filters through everything. Gets rid of everything. If I want to be nosy and check my messages, there’s nowt there.
“What will happen is the more young lads and children come through, the bigger the money is, the bigger the PDC get, there’ll be teams that look after social media for players.
“Like they do with footballers and golfers. I don’t think we are far off that if I’m deadly honest.
“I’ve put things in place to prevent me from getting hatred and it’s working perfectly.
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“It’s going to get worse, the more successful people are, the more people want to put them down.
“It’s in any walk of life, it doesn’t matter if you are in sports. People don’t like people doing well. Simple as that.”
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