Russ Bray: Legendary darts referee reveals why we will see an Asian domination to rival Luke Humphries and Luke Littler

Legendary referee Russ Bray explains why we will see an Asian domination of darts to rival the likes of Luke Humphries and Luke Littler.

Paolo Nebrida, Lok Yin Lee, Ryusei Azemoto, Lourence Ilagan, Nitin Kumar and Tomoya Goto all took to the stage at this year's World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace, with Nebrida impressing through to the third round - the first Asian player through to the last 32 for five years.

Kumar was the sole representative from India in north London this year but 14-year-old wonderkid Aryaveer 'The Explosion' Chokhani has already taken his scalp in a meeting earlier this year - and there's more talent on the conveyor belt.

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"He's got a lovely throw. He can do a lot of damage," said Bray - also known as 'The Voice' - when discussing Chokhani, who has won numerous titles at youth and senior level across the various darts circuits in India.

"He's a fantastic player. Could we see a world champion coming from India? You've got a billion-odd people out there.

"Are they that good? They're coming! There's clearly a boom and even more so now because you've got the Indian Darts Council [IDC]. I fought tooth and nail to get them to be the main PDC body in India.

"The kids can see they don't have to work in an office. They don't have to work on a building site. They don't have to be a scaffolder, like I've done. They can do something that they really love doing, make a great living out of it. So why wouldn't you have a go at it?"

Chokhani's success follows on from Belgium's Lex Paeshuyse, who created history at Alexandra Palace this week by becoming the youngest JDC World Junior Champion at the age of 13.

Bray is adamant there will be a boom in Asia over the next four or five years, reminiscent of what has happened on the Snooker tour, with Ding Junhui becoming an ambassador.

"I'm not saying they're going to have a world champion but I'll tell you what, it'll go something like the snooker did," said Bray, who spent 28 years in his role of referee,

"If all of a sudden you've got one Asian guy in there that's done really well, gets to the semi-finals, gets to the final, then Asia will flood it. That will happen with India. No two ways about it."

What makes Littler so special?

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Luke Littler, who reached the 2024 World Championship final, won the Premier League and Grand Slam of Darts in the last 12 months, is still only 17 but the world is his oyster and Bray is in complete awe of the teenager.

"He practices all the time. He's got the right mental attitude," the referee said. "He's 17 years of age, he's a kid. When he becomes an adult, there's a million and one things that can alter everything. He's a very rich young man.

"Will he have the motivation in a couple of years' time? We don't know. He's got a good management behind him and he has a very good family behind him. So again, that's a massive big plus factor for the boy."

Bray also spoke about what makes Littler such a natural talent.

"He can pick a dart up and he would throw a treble 20 with very little practice," said the former police traffic officer. "He's a natural dart player.

"He's got fantastic eye-hand coordination and that's what makes him as good as he is."

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Bray's tip for the title?

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Who will lift the famous Sid Waddell Trophy on Friday, January 3? Luke Humphries will be aiming to defend his title but Littler is the player in red-hot form.

"Humphries knows what it's like to win the World Championship, so that's a massive thing in his favour," Bray said. "Luke Littler - everyone knows him. He's got a big target on his back. It will be interesting to see.

"I just want to see great games and great darts.

"Is anyone going to emulate Phil Taylor? No one is going to get 16 world titles and no one is going to win 16 World Matchplays. You've got to be No 1 for 16 years and Taylor was No 1 for 20 years, but when we first started with the PDC you only had 16 players.

"Now at the European Championship you had world No 39 and world No 40 in the final [Richie Edhouse and Jermaine Wattimena] so that's how far back in the rankings it can go.

"If the world No 39 can win a major then why not a World Championship? That's how much depth there is and which is why the likes of Humphries and Littler will never win 16."

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Watch the World Darts Championship on Sky Sports

Live darts returns to Sky Sports at the PDC World Darts Championship after the Christmas break as Luke Humphries defends his title with Luke Littler and Michael van Gerwen all looking to dethrone 'Cool Hand' at Alexandra Palace.

World No 1 Humphries plays Nick Kenny in the evening session on Friday, December 27, while Littler headlines Saturday night when up against Ian White, with Van Gerwen also in action earlier that evening against Brendan Dolan.

The full day-by-day schedule for this year's tournament can be found here.

Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch every match exclusively live until January 3 on Sky Sports' dedicated darts channel. Stream darts and more top sport with NOW.