As Luke Littler goes head to head with Tyson Fury for prime-time attention, barber Ryan Meikle prepared for the biggest night of his career by giving his customers haircuts – what else?
As Luke Littler goes head to head with Tyson Fury for prime-time attention, barber Ryan Meikle prepared for the biggest night of his career by giving his customers haircuts – what else? As Luke Littler goes head to head with Tyson Fury for prime-time attention, barber Ryan Meikle prepared for the biggest night of his career by giving his customers haircuts – what else?
Demon barber Ryan Meikle prepared for the biggest game of his life against Luke Littler by mobilising his barnet army.
Instead of hammering the practice board, it was business as usual for Meikle at Nicks Gents Hairdressing in Saxmundham. Snip, snip hooray? If he beats 17-year-old sensation Littler, who reached the Paddy Power PDC World Championship final 12 months ago and has won £1 million in prize money in 2024, it will be the biggest shock since Hollywood star Mel Gibson’s mullet.
A close shave? Meikle stumbled through his first round against former hairdresser Fallon Sherrock, with a partisan Alexandra Palace crowd rooting for her.
Something for the weekend, sir? Littler is the overwhelming favourite tonight at 1-12 with the bookies, but if Meikle defies the odds he will take home a minimum £25,000 from the tournament.
If Queen of the Palace Sherrock had won her crimpers’ derby with Meikle, her battle of the sexes with Littler could have been the most-watched darts match in history. Now all the attention will be on the boy wonder – to see if he can replicate his fairytale run at Ally Pally last year.
And Meikle, who is nicknamed ‘The Barber’, was content just to keep administering haircuts in his Suffolk salon to keep his preparation as low-key as possible. But he’s missed out on a potential celebrity customer – Littler turned up for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year gala, where he was runner-up in the viewers’ poll, sporting a sharp new haircut.
“He must have his own barber,” smiled 28-year-old southpaw Meikle, who is ranked No.62 in the world.
“But I’m excited. I’m looking at it as a positive thing – the chance to play the boy who everyone’s talking about and I’m a big fan myself. I beat Gary Anderson in the Players Championship at Minehead and that gave me the confidence and belief I needed that I can beat the best players.
(
Image:
PA)
“I love playing at Ally Pally, it gives me goosebumps every time I walk in the door. All the pressure is going to be on Luke and, honestly, you never know what could happen.”
The crowd’s favouritism towards Sherrock did not surprise Meikle, and he is likely to find the majority of his prime-time audience backing Littler this evening.
He shrugged: ”You expect it. The crowd wanted Fallon to win because everyone wanted to see Littler v Fallon in the second round, I understand that, and after everything she’s done for ladies’ darts I knew what to expect. It’s not nice to hear the booing, but you sort of zone out and concentrate. I played Lisa Ashton two years ago in the first round so I had some experience of playing a woman on the big stage.”
Meikle’s doesn’t mind the Saturday night fever swirling around his date with Littler, but from nine to five the only things he cut down to size yesterday were his customers’ overgrown fringes.
(
Image:
PA)
He said: ”I like to go home, keep busy and take my mind off the darts. But I know it’s a big opportunity for me, so I’ll embrace it. I worked on Monday and when all my regular customers came in for a haircut, they were asking ‘What are you doing here?’ And I replied, ‘This is my job – what else would I be doing?’
“Even if I beat Luke, I will be back at work – being a barber takes my mind off things a lot. I’m just a normal lad – it doesn’t really feel real. I just try to enjoy it and take it in my stride.
“But I know there will be millions tuning in just to watch Luke play and I’m going to be a part of it. I’m going to feel honoured just to be up there with him. Obviously I need to play a lot better than I did against Fallon but the first round at the World Championship is always the hardest – hopefully I’ll relax a bit more and play my best game.
“I’m living the dream and it’s the most amazing feeling.”
Mirror – Sport
