Luke Littler talks about his expectations ahead of the duel with Mensur Suljovic. He does not want to be rattled by the Austrian’s unusual playing style.
World champion Luke Littler expects a tough fight when he faces Mensur Suljovic on Saturday evening in the third round of the 2026 Darts World Championship.
“No matter if it’s the player you’re playing against or the crowd – you always have to expect the worst. If it’s not as bad as expected, then I’m happy about that,” the 18-year-old is quoted by Sky Sports ahead of the match for a place in the last 16.
Luke Littler plays against Mensur Suljovic in the third round
There had recently been a lot of commotion about Littler’s upcoming opponent: Suljovic had faced accusations of cheating from his opponent Joe Cullen after his second-round victory. In the match, the Austrian had often celebrated provocatively long and took a lot of time with his throws.
Darts World Championship: Littler doesn’t want to adapt his rhythm
Littler, who had already defended Suljovic after Cullen’s accusations, does not want to be rattled by the 53-year-old’s special playing style. “I won’t adapt my game,” he emphasizes now. “I won’t throw slower or approach the board differently. I’ll continue to train and play as I always do.”
It’s the first time Littler and Suljovic will face each other on a big stage. Even if the roles seem clearly distributed given the starting position, the world champion warns against automatically assuming his victory.
“On paper, everyone expects the seeded player to win,” Littler explained. “You’re not that high in the rankings for no reason. But you still have to play and win these games first.”
Littler hasn’t set a title goal yet
Littler avoided grand announcements before his duel with “The Gentle.” While he had spoken after his World Championship triumph in early January about potentially attacking Phil Taylor’s record, “The Nuke” now said when asked about specific title goals: “Not really. It’s always about whether someone can break Phil Taylor’s record. Personally, I don’t think anyone will be able to do that.”
Taylor won a total of 16 World Championships in his career (14 with the PDC, two at the predecessor BDO World Championship). “I haven’t set a number for myself yet,” Littler said. “I’m sure that day will come, and then I’ll choose a number.”
With a triumph at the current edition of the Darts World Championship, Littler could become the first player since Gary Anderson in 2016 to successfully defend his World Championship title.