15-Year-Old Darts Player Eyes Major Prize in Live TV Special

Fifteen-year-old Mitchell Lawrie is among 24 amateur players set to compete in a live television special, "Beat Luke Littler," with a potential £501,000 prize on the line.

Lawrie, who has previously defeated world champion Luke Littler, acknowledged the nerves that come with competing on live television at his age. "There's going to be nerves there obviously, and being live on Netflix at 15 years of age is just something else," he stated. However, he added, "Everybody there has a chance at the end of the day."

Lawrie's past success against Littler occurred in 2023 at the World Cup junior darts event in Gibraltar, where his Scotland team beat the England team that included Littler in a deciding leg. The Scottish team went on to win the tournament, marking Scotland's first World Cup victory and Lawrie's first year participating. He described the experience as surreal and one he would "love to have back."

Last year, Lawrie was crowned WDF Open Youth World Champion. He was also noted as "the future of darts" by Jimmy van Schie after reaching the WDF World Championship final in December, becoming the first teenager to do so.

Lawrie began playing darts at the age of two, inspired by his grandfather. While he played from a young age, he only began taking the sport seriously about three and a half years ago. He explained that he had initially aspired to be a professional footballer but realized he was not skilled enough. He then chose darts and has since achieved considerable success.