On Wednesday, teenager Luke Littler will meet the new world number one Luke Humphries in the final of the 2024 Darts World Cup. Shortly before the match, a picture of the two opponents thrilled the darts community. However, it is by no means current.
Nobody expected this finalist before the Darts World Cup. Luke Littler, nicknamed “The Nuke”, eats his way through the tournament tree and, completely unexpectedly, finds himself in the final.
The 16-year-old darts sensation has already secured over £200,000 and made history. There has never been a younger player in the final of the Darts World Cup. The previous record holder was Kirk Shepahard in 2008 at the age of 21.
At the age of eight, off to the pub
Littler was apparently born with a talent for throwing arrows. And encouraged by his father. When he was just 18 months old, little Luke was said to have thrown magnetic darts at a dartboard while wearing diapers.
At the age of eight, his father took him to English pubs to play darts. Four years ago, he faced his current final opponent in a local event in such a pub.
This is shown by an old picture from Littler’s Instagram profile that went viral in the past few hours. Shown: Littler, then 12, and Humphries.
Apparently he already demanded everything from the professional back then. “Losed to Luke Humphries in the quarter-final last night at the Hayling Island competition, missed a few chances (one bull for 164) but gave him a good game,” he wrote about the encounter at the time.
Darts World Cup 2024: Next Littler hammer in the final?
The two have not played a match at the professional level since then. Humphries is the slight favorite, but another Littler hammer isn’t out of the question. The teenager threw himself through the tournament too hard-nosed and outrageously confident.
His preparation for the final: “I’ll do what I always do. In the morning I eat my omelette with my ham and cheese,” he said. And then he goes to Ally Pally, where he eats a pizza and gets ready to board. “I did that every day.”
And if he wins, he will of course become the youngest winner in Darts World Cup history. The prize money will then be slightly higher than it was in the pub four years ago. At that time it was about 250 pounds, said opponent Humphries. The winner of the final goes home with £500,000 in prize money.