LUKES LIKE REIGN

Teen sensation Littler and Humphries ready to dominate the oche

- MIKE WALTERS

THEIR tear-ups on the oche have ushered in a golden age for darts but the Lukes of Hazard will build their rivalry on respect, not trash talk.

Luke Littler's triumph as the BetMGM Premier League champion, hitting a nine-darter as he became the youngest winner of a TV major in history, was not just a boy wonder reaching for the stars.

The sportsmanship of his play-off final against Luke Humphries, his conqueror in the World Championship final just 141 days earlier, was a statement for decency.

When he walks down Wembley Way to support Manchester United in the FA Cup Final today, Luke the Nuke may discover he has become sport's biggest teenage celebrity since Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen announced themselves with wonder goals.

But his duels with Humphries have already taken over darts just 18 months after we thought Michael Smith and Michael Van Gerwen's greatest leg of all time at Ally Pally couldn't be topped.

The two Michaels have been shunted into the shade already. As Humphries said after his 11-7 defeat by Littler at London's 02 arena on Thursday night: "It's a Lukes world now."