ROB CROSS admits that it will be tough to stop the Luke Littler “juggernaut” now he’s world champion.
The World No4 is convinced that the teen sensation will continue to grow and be an even bigger force in 2025.
Cross, 35, lines up in the Bahrain Masters next week when 17-year-old Littler is announced as the reigning world champ for the first time.
He said: “I’ve got nothing but admiration for Luke. I think we’ve all run out of ways to describe what he’s done for the sport.
“He’s done incredible things on the oche. We’ve never seen this in darts before.
“People used to talk about my World Championship win on my debut as a big story.
“That has been eclipsed by Luke totally. Fair play to him. He’s taken it all in his stride.
“I think the biggest thing now for us all is how to stop him. It’s going to be like trying to halt a juggernaut.
“The more belief he gets, the harder it gets. He won’t win everything, a bit like last year.
“There’s no doubt it’s up to the likes of Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen, me and a few others to stop him.
“The only time Luke Littler has looked beatable is in the early stages of tournaments over a short format, like I did at the Grand Prix.
“He’s shown so much resilience lately though. It’s going to be fascinating as the year goes on.”
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”Luke Littler and seven other darts stars will battle it out for the 2025 Premier League title ” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6366814193112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”] [boxout headline=”Premier League Darts 2025: Dates and venues”]Night 1 – Belfast: Humphries beat Dobey 6-1
Night 2 – Glasgow: Littler beat Humphries 6-5
Night 3 – Dublin: Price beat Aspinall 6-3
Night 4 – Exeter: Humphries beat Littler 6-4
Night 5 – Brighton: Littler beat Aspinall 6-3
Night 6 – Nottingham: Price beat Littler 6-3
Night 7 – Cardiff: Littler beat Van Gerwen 6-4
Night 8 – Newcastle: Littler beat Humphries 6-1
Night 9 – Berlin: Bunting beat Price 6-5
Night 10 – Manchester: Aspinall beat Humphries 6-4
Night 11 – Rotterdam: Dobey beat Bunting 6-2
Night 12 – M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool – Thursday April 24
Night 13 – Utilita Arena, Birmingham, Thursday May 1
Night 14 – First Direct Arena, Leeds – Thursday May 8
Night 15 – P&J Live, Aberdeen – Thursday May 15
Night 16 – Utilita Arena, Sheffield – Thursday May 22
Play-Offs – The O2, London – Thursday May 29
Cross suffered an early exit at Ally Pally to pal Scott Williams but wants a strong comeback at the Premier League.
He added: “I’m excited to get to Bahrain and get winning again.
[authenticated-scripts src=”%3Cscript%20class%3D%22palin-poll%22%20src%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesun.co.uk%2Fpollingwidgets%2Fv3%2Fwidget.js%3Fquestion_id%3D101771%26game%3Dpolling%22%3E%3C%2Fscript%3E” type=”embedded” width=”100″ /]“The Worlds was a tough draw to play my mate. It was a rubbish night, I didn’t get going at all. Very frustrating. But that’s gone now.
“I want to get going and get to the Premier League to show what I can do. And try and stop the boy Littler!”