YOUNG Lincoln Thompson may only be ten years old but he’s already competing for a men’s pub team - and he’s got his eyes set on becoming the next Luke Littler.

The Monk Bretton schoolboy averages around 80 and hits 180s for fun - and he’s certainly attracting some attention.

He recently gained three sponsors who have been following his journey - Sweet Treats, Lee Boydell and Hackett’s Plastering - and he’s hoping to secure even more in the future.

His dad, Johny Thompson, said he started playing when he was just seven years old.

He told the Chronicle: “I stopped playing and he just took over my set up when he was around seven-and-a-half years old.

“Last year a darts academy opened in Wombwell called Darts Hub and he joined that.

“He started playing there and they started talking about how good he was.

“His knowledge is just incredible.”

Wanting to make the next step into his darts career, Johny managed to get Lincoln a space on the Pheasant’s pub team in Monk Bretton - and he’s not been dropped since.

“I had a word with someone at the Pheasant and they just signed him on,” he said.

“He’s played every week since then and he’s not been dropped.

“We’ve got him a proper shirt now with his sponsors printed on.

“He only turned ten in December and he just knows everything.

“He’s just going from strength-to-strength.”

Johny reckons his son averages around 80 every game - an incredibly high score for someone so young.

And he even had Charlie Manby - who reached the last 16 of the World Championships - backing him at a recent tournament.

“He gets 180s now and it doesn’t even faze him,” Johny added.

“He’s just looking to get the next one in.

“He’s averaging about 80 in his games.

“All the team at the Pheasant are just blown away by him.

“I’m so proud of him.

“Charlie Manby was there when he got to the final of a tournament in Wakefield before Christmas.

“He told him he just need to keep focussed.”

But it’s not just his darts skills that have caught the eye - he’s also improved with his maths at school.

Johny said: “His maths skills have just gone through the roof.

“He knows all the checkouts.

“He does the calculations himself.

“My friends play and he’s sat there telling them what they need before they’ve even realised.”

But there’s only one darts player that Lincoln wants to be like.

“Luke Littler was the one who really got him into darts,” he added.

“He’s his hero.

“It’s down to him that so many young people are into it.

“It was a bit of an old man’s game before but he’s turned it around.

“Lincoln wants to make a career out of it.

“He lives darts.

“If he’s not playing it he’s watching.”