Luke Littler's performance at the World Darts Championship belies his young age, but any doubts that he is older than he says have been extinguished.
The Warrington native has emerged as a star in recent weeks, going from an outsider to a place in Wednesday night's final.
A win against favorite Luke Humphries – who previously came up against an even younger Littler – would see Littler become the youngest ever world darts champion at the age of just 16.
On the eve of the final at Alexandra Palace, Littler's official birth certificate appeared online.
That document shows that the darts phenomenon was born on January 21, 2007 at the North Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust Warrington.
Luke Littler was the story of the 2024 World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace
The 16-year-old's official birth certificate surfaced on social media after some questioned his age
Darts fans joked that they had caught Littler when a tweet from 2014 resurfaced.
Fans discovered a 2014 tweet from car repair service Autobutler, which read: 'We welcome Luke Littler, an experienced mechanic, to our team here at Autobutler so we can continue to provide great service.'
And some fans were quick to discover that the Littler who stunned the darts world in 2014 would have been just seven.
“Experienced mechanic at 7 years old, this kid has it all,” one fan wrote.
“They caught him,” another joked.
'Work experience at the age of seven?' added a third with a laughing emoji.
“This man is 43,” a fourth fan claimed.
But that could all come to an end with the appearance of his official birth certificate, which confirms him as the darts phenomenon he initially thought he was.
“It's been a crazy ride,” Littler said after his 6-2 semi-final victory over former world champion Rob Cross.
Fans are impressed by Littler's management and calm at the oche
He is doing his best to become the youngest world darts champion ever on Wednesday evening
'I'm still standing. I'm in one of the biggest finals in the world. I was happy to win one match, but I could go all out!
'I surprised myself. I've been hitting big averages all year long.”
He added: “I'm happy to bring it on the biggest stage of them all.
'It would be incredible to win this. I just set one goal to win one game and then come back after Christmas.
“I have to stay calm and cross that line.”
Littler faces Humphries under the Ally Pally lights on Wednesday evening and is guaranteed to take home at least £200,000. Should he emerge victorious, the teenager will claim the winner's prize of £500,000.