The darts world is amazed and celebrates: Luke Littler is world champion – at just 17! The boy wonder turned the scene on its head within a year. The big competitor also takes off his hat.
Michael van Gerwen raved highly about the new darts world champion, and the Prime Minister personally congratulated “The Nuke”.
“Big compliments to Luke. A new star is born every 17 years. Luke Littler is one of them,” explained the Dutchman after he had virtually no chance in the 3-7 defeat in a memorable World Cup final at Ally Pally.
Great Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer sent congratulations to the first-time champion via X.
“An inspiring performance. And under this pressure to lift the trophy. You can be really proud of what you have achieved tonight. Not just for yourself but for the entire sport of darts,” Starmer wrote.
Within just twelve months, Littler has conquered the darts world and successfully contested his second attempt exactly one year to the day after he lost the World Cup final.
“I could finish 2025 without any more titles, but I would still have won the best trophy. I want to win more than ten titles this year, but if that doesn’t happen, I still have the whole big thing,” emphasized Littler .
Meanwhile, Van Gerwen presented himself as a fair loser: “I always take my hat off to people who beat me in a great game. That’s just how sport works.”
Off to bed: Littler wants to chill first
After all the media pressure, after all the great expectations, the celebrated Littler only longed for a very specific place.
“I can’t wait to finally get into my own bed,” said the newly crowned world champion after his triumph on “DAZN”: “It was a long two or three weeks in London.”
But before the teenager, the youngest title holder in World Cup history since Friday evening, can finally travel back home to Warrington in northwest England, he still has a few obligations ahead of him.
“I’m doing what I have to do, lots of media appointments. Then it’s home, chilling for a bit,” announced Littler.
Not yet at the top of the world rankings
Littler collected 500,000 pounds in prize money (around 603,000 euros) for the victory. He had previously won three major titles with the prestigious Premier League, the World Series Finals and the Grand Slam. Littler earned a total of 1.5 million pounds (around 1.8 million euros) in his first year as a professional on the PDC tour.
In the world rankings, Littler is now in second place behind Luke Humphries, to whom he was defeated in the World Cup final exactly twelve months ago.
It seems only a matter of time before Littler climbs to the top of the rankings. The child prodigy is still almost £700,000 short of the Order of Merit.
Littler also takes home the Ballon d’Art
Meanwhile, the Sid Waddell Trophy, which weighs around 23 kilograms, was not the only trophy for Littler. With 76 180 shots during the tournament, the youngster also secured the Ballon d’Art, which is awarded to the player with the most maximums.
The Englishman threw twelve 180 shots against van Gerwen. But the teenager was still a few short of Michael Smith’s (83) tournament record from 2022.
Littler is the successor to Luke Humphries, who was the first player to win the almost one meter high, 16 kg Ballon d’Art with three golden darts last year. Van Gerwen came second behind Littler with 56 best possible shots.
A total of 907 180s were thrown at the World Cup. As a result, the record for the most 180s in an entire tournament was narrowly missed. This was set up last year and is 914.
In total, almost a million pounds were raised for the good cause. Title sponsor Paddy Power donated 1,000 pounds (1,206 euros) for every 180 to a British prostate cancer prevention organization.