There are not many players that can boast victories over both Luke Humphries and Luke Littler within a six-week period, but Cam Crabtree is part of that exclusive club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fresh-faced 23-year-old is no stranger to disrupting the darting status quo, after also dispatching Jonny Clayton on his Wolverhampton debut 12 months ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Crabtree will be eyeing further scalps when he makes his Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts return this weekend, as he prepares to face three-time runner-up James Wade and 2025 quarter-finalist Ricky Evans in Group K.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m really looking forward to it,\u201d insisted the former Development Tour champion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI had a great time last year, so to be back in Wolverhampton is really nice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was surreal making my debut here. Jonny is amazing, so to beat a player of his calibre in the way that I did was really impressive for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Crabtree confirmed his 2026 qualification courtesy of his World Youth Championship exploits, featuring a superb semi-final victory over world number one Littler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The man nicknamed \u2018Shazam\u2019 produced a magical display to account for the World Champion, averaging almost 98 and defying finishes of 164 and 117 from Littler to prevail in a last-leg epic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never done that well at the World Youth Championship before, but then I have run into Wessel [Nijman] and Gian [van Veen],\u201d Crabtree continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI beat some good players this year. I had a really good game against Kaya Baysal. He was finishing everything!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThen to play Luke was fun. I was just looking forward to the game. I wasn\u2019t worried about the result. I just thought: \u2018Let\u2019s go and put on a good performance\u2019 and I managed to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve now beaten both of the Lukes [Littler and Humphries] in the space of about six weeks!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not an easy thing to do because they\u2019re the two best players in the world, so I\u2019m feeling confident in my game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHaving beaten them on the floor, now I just need to take that to the stage and maybe I can do that in Wolverhampton.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Grand Slam will mark the start of a potentially defining few weeks for Crabtree, who will face Germany\u2019s Jan Schmidt in the World Youth Championship final on November 29.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pair will go head-to-head at Butlin\u2019s Minehead Resort, as Crabtree bids to join the illustrious roll of honour and claim his first piece of televised silverware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of the 13 players to win the World Youth Championship, six have since claimed senior televised titles, while three have gone on to lift the sport\u2019s biggest prize at Alexandra Palace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat would be amazing,\u201d admitted the Londoner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTo be a World Champion is something that everyone dreams of. It\u2019s another opportunity to play on a big stage, so I\u2019m really looking forward to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou look at some of the names to win the World Youth Championship. Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen, Josh Rock, Michael Smith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere are others too that have achieved amazing things in their career, so it would be a great thing to have on my CV and hopefully that can be the start of something pretty special.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Crabtree is approaching the latter stages of his second year as a Tour Card Holder, with his second World Darts Championship appearance also on the horizon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The talented youngster made a Players Championship semi-final last July and also featured in a brace of ProTour quarter-finals in 2025, finishing inside the top 40 of the Players Championship rankings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Crabtree couldn\u2019t replicate that consistency in 2026, narrowly missing out on qualification for the upcoming Players Championship Finals as a consequence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nevertheless, he still has a wonderful opportunity to make this season one to remember, starting with the Grand Slam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not been as good a season as last year. I\u2019m under no illusions about that,\u201d declared the 23-year-old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere are probably some reasons for that which I\u2019m aware of and I\u2019m working to put those right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve managed to come into the Grand Slam, World Championship and World Youth Championship final off the back of a not very good season, so that\u2019s something I can take away and be proud of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNow we will see if the back end of the year can turn it into a good year!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI just want to go up there and play the way I can, and what happens from there, we\u2019ll see!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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