Rob Cross fires 'jealous' Luke Littler warning to all of his darts rivals

Rob Cross insists that his darts rivals have 'no need to be jealous' of Luke Littler for his lofty achievements. Littler, still just 17, has continued to set the world of darts alight since his fairytale run at the World Championships at Ally Pally last month.

In the space of a month, the teenage darts sensation clinched the Bahrain Masters, made the Dutch Masters final and beat World No. 1 Luke Humphries for a second straight match on his Premier League debut.

Having achieved what he has while just a teenager, many anticipate that he will dominate the sport for years to come. The media have got right behind Littler and he has quickly become one of the most recognisable faces in British sport.

Littler's swift rise may breed jealousy among his opposition but Cross has nothing but admiration for the youngster. Speaking to Lucky Block, Cross said: "Every hurdle that he [Littler] comes across at the minute, he's got the answers for. I think he's fantastic, I really do.

"Has darts ever had that much reach before and after the World Championship before? He's got a million followers on Instagram and he's done it in 10 minutes.

"It's absolutely amazing. Not forgetting that there's no need to be jealous of this boy for what he's achieving because every one of us dart players is going to benefit from it.

"More money goes into the game, there's more injection of prize money and everyone will step up." Littler's World Darts Championship final against Humphries in January was the most-watched non-football event in Sky Sports' broadcasting history.

An impressive peak audience of 3.71million people tuned in to watch the match that was eventually won by Humphries 7-4. It marked a 143 per cent increase on the 2023 final with 4.8m registered Sky and NOW TV viewers tuning in to watch it.

Littler has no doubt raised the public's interest in darts and that can only be beneficial for everyone involved in the sport.