Luke Littler has opened up about being accused of "cheating" during the lockdown when darts competitions went virtual.
The 17-year-old, who became a star after his surprising journey to the World Darts Championship final, began his rise in the sport during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Before the pandemic, Luke was not well-known in the darts scene, even though he had won the England Youth Grand Prix and the Isle of Man Masters youth competition in 2019. But when the lockdown hit, he started to shine in senior competitions online, which led to some people saying he was cheating because he was so young.
Stuck at home, Luke used a mobile phone app called Scolia to keep track of his practice scores. When he played in online matches, that's when the cheating accusations started. He told The Times: "I was doing four, five hours a day, every day. I had nothing else to do.
"I started getting into different computer bots. The fella that organised competitions locally would do them online at weekends. You paid your tenner to enter. I won, and a few people said I was cheating."
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He also mentioned that when in-person competitions started again, people wanted him to 'prove it'. Luke silenced his critics by winning his first senior title at the Irish Open in 2021. He said: "I was getting better and better and then we came out and it was back to normal.
"All of the people, out from their kitchens and bedrooms, into the pub and the darting world. And I proved it, didn't I? I don't get why I would cheat. If you're that good, you don't really need to."
Despite his sudden
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