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'Luke Littler has benefitted from Leighton Bennett's rise they're both so gifted'

EXCLUSIVE: Leighton Bennett and Luke Littler are leading the way for youth darts after both men put in impressive showings in the first Players Championship event of the season

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Luke Littler has taken the darts world by storm since making his debut at the worlds in December(Image: Getty Images)

Junior Darts Corporation chairman and founder Steve Brown has praised Luke Littler and Leighton Bennett after the first ProTour event of the season.

Littler and Bennett were two of the standout stars in Wigan on Monday. Both players hit nine-darters, while teen sensation Littler carried on his superb start to 2024 by winning the entire event on his debut.

While Littler's rise has been sudden and fast, Bennett has been on the radar of darts aficionados for some time. He first emerged as a talent as a 13-year-old schoolboy when he beat darts legend Phil Taylor.

READ MORE: Luke Littler wins another PDC title on debut as 17-year-old carries on sensational form

READ MORE: Luke Littler's secrets to darting success up at 3am playing Xbox to 20 minutes practice

Despite continuing to impress since, Bennett, now 18, has taken a little bit longer than Littler to reach the top. He won his Tour Card for the first time in January and wasted no time in showing what he's about in the first Players Championship event.

Bennett came through the first two rounds in Wigan, throwing a nine-darter in his second round match against Lukas Wenig. Not to be outdone, Littler followed that up with one of his own not long after against Michele Turetta.

Will we see Littler and Bennett in a PDC final together one day? Let us know in the comments section below

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(Image: OfficialPDC/X)

Littler, of course, went on to win the whole thing. Bennett saw his run come to an end in the last-32, where he lost out 6-5 in a close match against Cameron Menzies, who later came up short against Luke the Nuke.

Nevertheless, it was an impressive showing from Bennett, who, along with Littler, came through the Junior Darts Corporation (JDC) ranks before making it in the PDC. Brown, who founded the JDC, has watched both men grow as darts players and is excited to see the pair of them go from strength-to-strength in the professional ranks.

[Leighton Bennett and Phil Taylor]

Bennett famously beat Phil Taylor when he was just 13(Image: TAYLOR LANNING)

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"Luke has benefited from Leightons rise and, in some ways, hes probably also benefited from seeing some of the tougher times and dips in form Leighton has had," Brown said after the first Players Championship event.

"Everyone runs their own race and Leightons ability has never been in doubt. Im just so happy for him that hes got his card and hes got the next two years to show everyone what we all know he can do.

There's plenty of respect between the two young Englishmen. But there's also an edge to their rivalry, as Bennett explained after beating Littler in the final of Event 11 of the JDC Advanced Tour last May.

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Steve Brown (left) with Keane Barry is the founder and chairman of the Junior Darts Corporation (Image: JDC)

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Bennett said at the time: "To play against him and beat him with what hes doing and everything at the moment, dont get me wrong, top respect to him and stuff, but weve got a big rivalry, we both dont like each other, so its nice to beat him in the final."

Brown continued: Theyre both so gifted, and its a bit like magnets with those two theyre drawn to each other but they repel each other as well!

"They played each other a fair bit on the JDC circuit and Luke had the better of Leighton, but they had some cracking matches and produced some great darts. Its very exciting to see how they will develop over the coming years."

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