'I've found a future Luke Littler rival – he's the best player in India and only 14'
'I've found a future Luke Littler rival – he's the best player in India and only 14'
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Luke Littler may soon have competition from a darting prodigy who has already been branded the best player in India. At the age of 14, Aryaveer Chokhani defeated World Championship star Nitin Kumar to win a national title last year. That success was overseen by legendary referee Russ Bray, now a PDC ambassador after stepping down from frontline officiating following the 2024 World Championship final, which saw Littler lose out to Luke Humphries.
Bray is an expert on Asian darts and has already seen enough to believe Chokhani is a star of future. He said: “He’s their national champion, he’s mustard. When I say he’s good, I mean he’s good, I’m talking absolutely, magnificently good. “He has the right type of attitude and he’s certainly got the right type of throw. I was out there in July, in Calcutta. He played Nitin Kumar in the final of BRC, the Bengal Rowing Club Championship tournament, their big championship, and he destroyed him.
“Bear in mind, Nitin won through to play at the World Championship. Aryaveer can’t because he’s only 14. He’s terrific, he really is. “A very natural dart player with a very natural throw on him. He’s got a good attitude as well and has a bit of bite about him. He shows a bit of emotion. He could be the real deal.”. Indian darts in general is on the rise, with record numbers attending its latest World Championship qualifying event. Bray said: “The [2023] qualifier had just 35 players, that was it. When you think about how big India is….
“But Nitin Kumar won the last one and there were 153 players, which was terrific. And it was put together in three weeks. It was televised and streamed and the hall was fantastic. “I’ve managed to get the IDC involved, the Indian Darts Council. They’re going to be putting together Premier League-type events. There’s infrastructure in India now which will involve all the major places and give everyone the chance to play darts and help it get stronger, which it will do.
“There’s a billion-odd people in India, there’s got to be a Luke Littler, a Phil Taylor, a Michael van Gerwen. There must be, it’s just a matter for us to find them.”. Whether Aryaveer fulfils his potential or not, Bray has no doubt more world-class players will emerge from Asia. Given the size of the continent, unearthing them is a complex challenge and progress stalled during the pandemic.
Bray explained: “I’ve called darts in Mongolia. Travel from the Philippines to Mongolia, for example, costs and it’s time-consuming. And very few guys on the Asia tour are professional players. They have to take time off from work. It’s not an easy thing. Having said that, it’s getting better and better and more in-depth.”. There were some notable Asian successes at the 2025 World Championship, including Paolo Nebrida of the Philippines making the third round. He then beat Rob Cross at the Bahrain Masters a few weeks later.
“These players are more than capable, it’s just a case of getting them to believe it,” insisted Bray. “They’re not playing top quality players every week like the PDC players. “But we will find someone out in Asia. It happened in the snooker. The UK dominated for many years but then a Chinese player won something and then the sport was flooded with players.”. Get email updates with the day's biggest stories.
