Luke Littler became the youngest world champion in darts history on Friday when the 17-year-old Englishman lived up to his billing as Britain鈥檚 latest sporting superstar.
Littler beat three-time champion Michael van Gerwen 7-3 in the final at a boisterous Alexandra Palace in London.
鈥淓veryone dreams of lifting this trophy,鈥 said Littler, who also took the winner's check of 500,000 pounds ($620,000). 鈥淚 can't believe it.鈥
It completes the remarkable rise of Littler, a prodigy from Warrington in northwest England who first threw a dart as an 18-month-old toddler, was junior world champion in 2023 and 鈥 at age 16 鈥 before losing to top-ranked Luke Humphries.
That catapulted him to stardom, making him famous far beyond darts while lifting the sport into the mainstream like in its heyday in the 1980s.
Littler handled the huge pressure and expectation on him to return to the final 12 months later and powered 4-0 up in sets against Van Gerwen, a darts phenom himself as a youngster and with world titles in 2014, 鈥17 and 鈥19.
The Dutchman made it 4-1, 5-2 and 6-3, but Littler could not be stopped and he was reduced to tears after he made the winning double.
鈥淲ow, wow, wow,鈥 he could be seen saying.
鈥淎t 2-0 up, I started getting nervous,鈥 Littler said later, 鈥渂ut I said to myself, 鈥楻elax.鈥 To get it over and done with is special.鈥
Van Gerwen was previously the youngest world champion in the elite Professional Darts Corporation competition, winning the 2014 final at age 24. Jelle Klaasen won the now-defunct British Darts Organisation world title in 2006 at age 21.
Van Gerwen said losing his record 鈥渉urt鈥 but was full of praise for Littler.
鈥淓very 17 years a star gets born,鈥 Van Gerwen said, 鈥渁nd he is one of them.鈥
Many were already wondering if Littler can reach Phil Taylor鈥檚 remarkable record of 16 world titles. Claiming a first title at age 17 will now super-charge that conversation.
鈥淟uke Littler was forged into a winner, not just a great dart thrower,鈥 John Part, a three-time world champion from Canada, told The Associated Press ahead of the world championship about Littler challenging Taylor鈥檚 16. 鈥淗e was the best at each age level he has gone through, so aware of how to win and he鈥檚 so comfortable with it. He doesn鈥檛 feel pressure at all.鈥
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