Luke Littler admits he ‘fears the worst’ after narrowly avoiding giant-killing in first round of World Series of Darts

LUKE LITTLER says he “fears the worst” of facing Raymond van Barneveld in Amsterdam.

The teen sensation won a deciding leg thriller 6-5 against Ross Smith in his World Series Finals opener on Friday night.

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Littler , 17, now takes on legend Barney, nine months after beating him during the legendary World Championship run at the Ally Pally.

Littler said: “Tonight was pretty wild and that was two Englishman against each other.

“But I am ready and fear the worst. If anything is better then I’ll take it.

“Me and Raymond will both be confident, I know I am.

“The World Championship was a crazy experience and beating one of my old idols in Raymond.

“But Saturday night will be different, he’ll have the crowd on his side.

“Worse case is I’ll have to switch on the gears like I did tonight. I’ll have to make a good start and get right into it.”

On whether he’ll wind up the crowd, Littler added: “I’ll leave it!”

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Littler nearly blew his win after missing two match darts against Smith.

He reeled off four successive legs but fluffed his lines to wrap it up.

Inside Littler's massive rise

LUKE LITTLER has taken the darts world by storm since exploding onto the scene at the PDC World Championship at the beginning of the year.

The Nuke reached the final on his Ally Pally debut at just 16 years of age – smashing records along the way.

He has then gone on to win a host of PDC events and the Premier League title – which he claimed at the O2 Arena by beating world champion Luke Humphries in May .

He also finished his first season in the World Series as the No1 ranked player .

He has joined Jude Bellingham on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list .

And the teenage titan even had to snub an invite from the WWE.

The Sun exclusively revealed that Littler is plotting to create a fitness empire.

He is also cashing in away from the Oche thanks to an Instagram side hustle.

And he’s even the face of a brand new cereal.

But he is newly single after splitting from girlfriend Eloise Milburn following a 10-month relationship.

Check out all of our latest Luke Littler stories .

Smith then also missed two darts to win the match before ‘The Nuke’ took out his favourite double ten to take victory.

He added: “I’m just glad to get over the line. I had a pop at the 167 to win and the 132. Then I thought to myself just hold throw.

“It’s been unbelievable visiting countries I never thought I’d be playing darts in.

“But I’ve had the opportunity to go all over and done well in most of them and that’s why I’ve come here as No.1 seed.”

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