Luke Littler has been left astounded by the performance of 15-year-old darts sensation Mitchell Lawrie at the WDF World Championship. Lawrie, born in 2010, has been making headlines on the Lakeside stage after breaking Littler's record as the youngest player to win a match at the venue.
On Sunday, Lawrie defeated Japan's Tomoya Maruyama before following it up with a 3-0 win over last year's semi-finalist Jason Brandon. During the match, Lawrie hit five maximums and finished with a 97.21 average, the highest of the tournament so far.
Reacting to Lawrie's performance on the WDF Darts Instagram account, Littler wrote: "This kid is a joke." Lawrie himself was delighted with his display, saying: "I'm absolutely buzzing with myself, to be honest. Obviously the number two seed - he's a very good, experienced player as well. He got to the semi-finals here last year, so I knew I was up against it from the start."
Lawrie admitted to a slight lapse in concentration during the final set but recovered to secure victory. He said: "My start was very strong. I kind of fell asleep a little bit in the last set - not that I thought I'd won it, but then he started hitting scores and I woke up again, thankfully."
The young Scot also revealed he came close to a nine-dart finish, adding: "Yes - I could have hit the nine! No, honestly, it was great. I think the crowd were with me from the start."
