Raymond van Barneveld insists world darts champion Luke Littler is the ‘best player’ in the world but says he would have been turned over by all-time great Phil Taylor.
Littler continues the defence of his World Darts Championship title with a third-round match against Mensur Suljovic on Saturday night.
The Nuke made history at last year’s tournament, becoming the youngest world champion of all time, lifting the Sid Waddell Trophy at the age of just 17.
Barneveld says Littler is the ‘one to beat’ again this year and can become the a multiple world darts champion like himself and the greatest player of all time, Taylor.
Despite his admiration for Littler, Van Barneveld believes the 2024 Sports Personality of the Year would have lost to a ‘prime’ Phil Taylor.
The Power dominated the sport across three decades, winning over 200 professional tournaments, including a record 87 majors and a record 16 World Championships.
‘I admire Phil Taylor more, he was so, so impressive,’ Barneveld told BoyleSports. ‘The night he hit the two nine-darters, that was insane.
‘But now I’m sitting on the couch with my wife, and we’re watching this young kid, 18 years of age. How unbelievable it is for a kid.
‘Already, for the last two years, when he turned up at 16, he was beating everyone in the world apart from Luke Humphries in the world final.
‘Then one year later, he won it all. He won the Premier League, runner-up in the Premier League. It’s unbelievably good that a guy from 16, 17, 18 years of age can do this every single week, and I have a lot of respect for that.
‘Sometimes you wonder, what is your diet? What are you eating? I want the same. But he’s relaxed. If you see him in the back, he’s always on his phone playing games.
‘You never see him in trouble. Everything still goes well for him. But I’m very curious, every player has his worst moments, and maybe those will come, and we’ll see how he gets out of that.
‘But in their primes, I still think Taylor wins. Because Luke likes to play in a certain rhythm, and Phil always controlled the pace himself.
‘I don’t think many players played their A-game against him, not many. Apart from Van Gerwen, maybe Anderson or Rob Cross when he beat Phil in the final, maybe me.
‘I think Phil in his prime and Luke in his prime, it’s so hard to compare, but I’d still say Phil Taylor.
‘Luke Littler is the best at the moment, the best player. He won the Matchplay, he won the UK Open.
‘At the World Series of Darts he lost to an excellent Michael van Gerwen, but he’s the one to beat right now because I am really enthusiastic about his game.’
Littler beat Van Gerwen 7-3 in last year’s World Darts Championship final and could face world number two Luke Humphries in this year’s showpiece event.
Gian van Veen and Josh Rock are two of the other contenders to triumph at the Alexandra Palace.
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