Luke Littler continues to be a divisive figure in the darts community as he prepares to begin his assault on the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship.

This weekend the 17-year-old enters the tournament through which he made his name 12 months ago as favourite to win the Sid Waddell trophy and take home the £500k top prize from Alexandra Palace. Last year he finished runner-up to Luke Humphries.

Between his maiden attempt and now, a debut season on the Pro Tour has seen Littler go on to claim three PDC titles - including the Premier League, win BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award and even rack up a prize money total exceeding £1m.

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But not everybody can be said to be happy about this. Along the way he has struck up rivalries on the oche and earned plenty of critics. Here, MEN Sport takes a look at just a few of the biggest talking points along the way...

Ryan Meikle taunt

There may be another feud on the way...

Littler enters the World Championships in the second round, with the first round of matches getting underway last Sunday. As part of that Ryan Meikle defeated Fallon Sherrock 3-2 to set up the Nuke's first challenge of this year's tournament.

"For weeks now, since the draw come out, people have kept saying, 'you might play Littler'," he told Sky Sports. "Social media and stuff, I was everywhere - I've never had so much media attention in my life, and it's not because of who I am.

"Everyone wanted a Littler-Fallon second round, which I can understand - I know how big that would have been, I'm not stupid. But secretly, that gave me more motivation."

The Barber then taunted: "Onto Saturday, there's no pressure on me now. I'm sure he'll have a lot of pressure on him, obviously media-wise and the TV.

"I'm not looking to slow him down or do any sort of tactics. Hopefully I can just relax and play my best game," but ultimately complimented: "I don't think he has any weaknesses, to be fair. I think he's unbelievable."

Michael van Gerwen challenge

Michael van Gerwen is another darts star who has sought out the Nuke before the pair have even had a chance to cross paths at this winter's tournament.

In match-ups throughout the 2024 season, their record is evenly split with six wins against the other.

And the veteran - who can't face Littler until the final due to the way the draw unfolded - is confident he can come out on top if it comes to it, even when not at his best.

He told PA via The Mirror: "I have not been playing my best performances and I have still got a great record against him (Littler). Even when I am not playing my best, I know it is not easy to beat me, so I get a lot of motivation out of that."

"My game is not in a good place, my results are nowhere near good enough but you need to be positive and make sure you keep your head up. You need to make sure you keep positive because if you are negative it is only going to work against me."

Ricardo Pietreczko altercation

Looking further back into 2024 now and perhaps the most hostile rivalry Littler faced in the year was when he came up against German Ricardo Pietreczko in the Belgian Darts Open semi-finals.

Shaking hands at the end of their match won 7-3 in the end by the Warrington-born teenage star, Pietreczko initiated a feisty exchange by pulling him close to go face-to-face in a bizarre moment.

The German explained his opponent's arrogance had tipped him over the edge and hoped this would 'punish him' later down the line. Littler meanwhile had no clue what the altercation was about, stating that every opponent he now faces sees their match as a 'cup final'.

Phil Taylor backing

Speaking to The Sun, darts legend Phil 'the Power' Taylor has said Littler just needs to ignore the outside clamour and continue on his current trajectory.

"Not really," the 64-year-old responded when asked if anything could stop the teenager's rise.

"With what he is doing, some people agree with it, and some don’t in the way he chills out. Luke does his 10 or 15 minutes of practice before a game and then he is done. If it suits him then carry on because whatever he is doing is working for him."

As for Littler's chances at the World Championships, he commented: "He definitely has the ability [to win it] and he’s got age on his side. Luke isn’t motivated by money - he just likes winning. So he will go into the World Championships, and £500,000 for the winner won’t even enter his head."