Barry Hearn offers advice to Luke Littler in private chat days before PDC World Championship

Luke Littler received the 'best advice' from Barry Hearn ahead of the PDC World Darts Championship.

The former PDC chairman has revealed he had private talks with the teenager in the build-up to the tournament.

Littler has been on a meteoric rise since making his Alexandra Palace debut last year.

After reaching the final aged just 16, the Nuke has since won 10 titles in his first year as a professional including the Grand Slam of Darts.

Meanwhile, he has risen to fourth in the PDC Order of Merit by scooping £618,500 in prize money.

Hearn has handed Littler some advice when it comes to making and spending money on the oche.

The Matchroom Sport president told the : "I talked to him a couple of days ago, and actually I said something similar to him.

"'Listen, you're going to find you've got a lot of friends now, son. You're 17 years old – don't listen to anybody. Give yourself a chance. Just put the money in the bank and forget about it.'

"I said, 'It's the best advice I could ever give anyone. We've got plenty of time to spend money, not necessarily plenty of time to earn money. You don't know what's around the corner. So cash is king'."

Littler's stunning 12 months have also seen him win the Premier League and World Series of Darts Finals.

He will make his return to Ally Pally as the fourth seed in this year's draw.

The 17-year-old enters the tournament in the second round on Saturday evening.

He will face the winner of the opening round tie between Ryan Meikle and Fallon Sherrock.

It comes after the event got underway on Sunday night.

Defending champion Luke Humphries made kicked off his campaign with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Thibault Tricole.

Cool Hand won all nine legs as he raced to a whitewash win over the Frenchman.