The NHS manager preparing to take on Littler

Wales’ David Davies knows the first thing he has to do to prepare to face world champion Luke Littler – book time off work.

The NHS area manager from Denbigh delivered a straight sets win over Mario Vandenbogaerde in his World Darts Championship debut on Saturday.

The 40-year-old could not have wished for a better first game at Alexandra Palace, dropping just four legs on the way to a 3-0 win over ‘Super Mario’.

After a guaranteed £25,000 pay day for his first round success, he will now take on world number one Littler in the second round, but only after he swaps his day off.

Davies – whose only previous appearance at the finals was as a fan – will meet Littler on Sunday, 21 December.

The 18-year-old darts sensation has won the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, UK Open and Grand Slam in a remarkable 12 months which started with World Championship glory.

Davies says Littler is a “different breed” but is looking forward to the challenge in front of him.

“There’s no games easy here, we’re all here because we deserve to be,” said Davies.

“But Luke on the other hand, he’s a different breed, isn’t he? He’s blown the sport to a different dimension.

“I’m going to be the underdog in every single game I play. I haven’t got a tour card and people say this, that and the other, but I deserve to be here.

Davies qualified for the World Championship through the UK & Ireland qualifying tournament at the start of November.

Now, having pocketed the sizeable prize money for winning a first-round game at the World Championship, the temptation to go into the sport full-time grows.

But Davies says he will make a decision after the World Championships.

“I’m not going to get ahead of myself,” said Davies.

“The money is obviously massive because I haven’t got any massive backing. I’ve got a full-time job… do I take the plunge and and go full-time in darts? I don’t know yet.

“I want to provide for people, that’s why I joined the NHS. So it’s a really difficult decision to make, but then it’s also about self-belief on how far I can go.