Darts world champion Luke Littler successfully defended his title at the Grand Slam of Darts on a memorable final day.
In the final, after a strong final spurt, the 18-year-old won 16:11 against his compatriot Luke Humphries, whom he will now replace at the top of the world rankings.
By reaching the final, the younger Luke had already displaced the older one as number one in the world. Littler then followed up and secured the title for the second time in a row. For Littler, it is the eighth major title of his career; he drew level with Humphries, who won the Grand Slam in 2023, the third most important tournament of the year.
“It was a strange game for me. But it was always clear that it would be a close game. I was actually just behind for a long time. The game changer was the 20th leg,” said Littler after the match. “Cool Hand Luke”, as Humphries is called, was initially undeterred by Littler’s changing of the guard and fought a close duel.
“I am the best in the world”
With the score at 11:9, the world champion managed to pull away with two legs for the first time, checking the 160 points after Humphries missed several darts on the doubles. After that, Littler was unstoppable.
“I am the best in the world,” “The Nuke” had said a few hours earlier after his 16:9 victory in the semifinals over the Dutchman Danny Noppert. Humphries reached the final after a 16:13 win against Welshman Gerwyn Price. The 30-year-old was already aggressive again after the defeat. “I will win the World Cup,” he said.
Humphries had held first place in the rankings since his world title in January 2024. It is also clear that Littler will go into the World Cup in London (December 11th to January 3rd) as the top seed. The two Englishmen can only meet in the final of the tournament, which has been expanded to 128 players.
World Cup and World Matchplay titles
Littler has enjoyed a remarkable winning streak and already has one title each at the World Cup, Premier League and World Matchplay. “The Nuke,” as Littler is known, will start the tournament at Alexandra Palace as favorite.
From a German perspective, Martin Schindler, Ricardo Pietreczko, Niko Springer and former World Cup semi-finalist Gabriel Clemens are the bearers of hope for London. Clemens was so far the only German professional to make it to the last four at the World Cup. Schindler was the first German to make it into the top 16 of the world rankings this year.