I played the 12-year-old everyone thinks will be ‘next Luke Littler’ and showed no mercy
Scott Williams has revealed he handed the 'next Luke Littler' a brutal welcome to senior darts.
The world number 37 faced 12-year-old prodigy Jayden Walker in his first-ever county match.
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Walker has been tipped for a bright future in the sport by fans after impressing at such a young age.
He made headlines back in December by winning a doubles tournament at the MODUS Super Series.
Alongside Manchester United fan and content creator Angry Ginge, Walker beat Fallon Sherrock and YouTuber JaackMaate to claim the exhibition title.
The victory came just a day after he saw off world number one Luke Humphries 2-1 in another exhibition clash.
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However, he had no such success when facing Williams, who was representing Dorset at county level.
Shaggy lifted the lid on their face-off as he appeared on Drive on Wednesday.
Asked if there are any young prospects coming through who could emulate Littler, he explained: "There’s a couple of really good young lads. You can see there’s Jayden Walker.
"He’s from the Portsmouth area. I play at Dorset, I was his first-ever county game. He played in the B. He was 12-years-old or 11-years-old.
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"To be fair, I smashed him. That’s what you’ve got to do, but he’s really good.
"Jack Johnson as well, another lad. They’re scattered about, but ever since Luke has done what he’s done, there’s youth academies everywhere.
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"All of a sudden, these young dart players are just sneaking out everywhere."
Walker could benefit from the impact Littler has had on the sport since bursting onto the scene at the 2024 World Darts Championship.
The Nuke was beaten by Humphries in the final at Alexandra Palace before returning to become the sport's youngest-ever world champion a year later.
Williams had also had a breakout performance at Ally Pally that year, reaching the semi-finals before losing to the eventual winner.
However, the 35-year-old was already well aware of Littler's talent some time before his meteoric rise.
The pair had been team-mates at the 2022 WDF Europe Cup, representing England at the tournament in Gandia, Spain.
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Discussing Littler's impact on darts, Williams recalled: "It was always big for me over the last couple of years and then Luke came in.
"Which is no surprise because I’ve known Luke for a few years. We played together for England a couple of years ago. He was 14."
He added: "He was special. He’s always been special, even around his area. So us as players, we’ve known about him for three, four, five years."
Still only 18, Littler is already ranked number two in the world along with winning 13 PDC titles, including five major events.
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