‘No one will find me’: Luke Littler unveils plan to go into hiding if he wins World Darts Championship

LUKE LITTLER has declared he will go into hiding if he wins the World Darts Championship.

The huge darts event to crown the world champion starts off later this month, with Littler's first game coming on December 21 against the winner of Fallon Sherrock and Ryan Meikle.

He soared to overnight stardom when becoming a beaten finalist against Luke Humphries last year on a remarkable debut.

The then 16-year-old retreated to a secret location in Wales to escape the crazy world he had just thrust himself into.

He had become a face recognised around the world, with his exploits around the globe in front of the oche in the subsequent year only adding fuel to his meteoric rise in the sport.

Littler has been backed by darts legend, Phil Taylor, to go one better and land the biggest prize in the sport at Alexandra Palace this time around.

And he has told he will repeat his houdini trick by going into hiding if the media frenzy for him erupts again.

Littler said: "If the same happens, I’ll hide away again, no one will find me."

He has earned over £1million in prize money to go with his 10 ranking titles over the last 12 months.

But that has not changed the little pleasures he enjoys, including playing Xbox and relaxing with mates, something Taylor can attest to after the pair shared a meal last month.

On that dinner date, Littler said: "As soon as he walked in, me and my mum were, ‘What is going on!? Sat down having a meal with Phil Taylor!

"It was good. He was telling me some of the stories on tour, [about] some of the players.

"He was saying, ‘Just keep yourself to yourself. The least you interact with people, the harder it is for them. Don’t need to talk to anyone’."

In terms of the practice the BBC Sports Personality of the Year nominee has put up before the tournament, he revealed he trains for an hour to and an-hour-and-a-half a day.

On his prep, he said: "A lot of sleep, practice, Xbox, chill out. An hour to an-hour-and-a-half [a day] on the board.

"Keep the arm loose. [But] mostly just chilling… [see] some mates… go out with them sometimes, otherwise just chilling in my bedroom on my own, playing my game, on my phone."

It is a far cry from the six to seven hours he used to practice in front of the board before turning pro, though he admits it is not something he needs to do often as it would be "over-practising".

The winner of the World Darts Championship will take home a whopping £500,000.