A ‘darts mad’ schoolboy who plays for a Buckinghamshire team is being tipped as the next Luke Littler after hitting his first 180 aged just seven years old.
Noah Kendall, who lives in Northampton but plays for the Milton Keynes Sharks darts team, became hooked on the sport after watching the World Darts Championship on TV with his dad Kev two years ago. Exercise Equipment
His parents bought him a magnetic dartboard when he was six and last year, they splashed out on a full-size one which he keeps in his bedroom.
After hitting doubles and triples during two and three-hour daily practice sessions, Noah now plays for a junior team and reached the last 16 in a New Year’s Day competition against players several years older than him as well as winning a handful of trophies with his local team.
He has even caught the attention of referees for his lightning-quick totting up of players’ scores and regularly adjudicates adult matches, prompting darts legend Russ Bray, who retired after this year’s Ally Pally final, to say Noah’s ‘180’ call-out sounded “just like mine”.
The seven-year-old is so confident of making it in the game that he has already picked out his nickname – ‘The Doubles King’.
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Proud mum Helen, 42, a pastoral leader at a primary school, said: “After watching him hit doubles a few times, we realised that he had a good throw on him.
“There was an academy he started going to which had a proper board, and he was a natural. Noah is also very good at maths and can add up the scores and work out which numbers he needs to hit quickly.
“He started scoring matches and practising his calls like they do on the TV and the older players love it.”
Noah says he loves refereeing, but his dream is to follow in the footsteps of his favourite player, two-time Scottish darts legend Gary Anderson.
He said: “I want to be a player or a ref. Or a commentator. I play to help with my maths. I really enjoy the game and people say I’m good at it.”
Helen said: “He's the youngest in the group. Normally the club goes from six to 17.
“It’s incredible, there aren’t many children that do that. There’s definitely the potential there for Noah to make a career out of darts.
“You need big dreams, that’s what he talks about. Being on the world stage.
“Luke Littler, from what he’s been able to achieve, has been able to open the door for Noah.”
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