Luke Littler has been crowned the new darts world champion. In the final at London’s “Ally Pally”, the 17-year-old outclassed his opponent Michael van Gerwen.
The new darts world champion is Luke Littler. “The Nuke” defeated three-time title holder Michael van Gerwen 7:3 on Friday evening. This makes Littler the youngest world champion in history. He will only turn 18 in a few days.
From the start, Littler showed that he wanted to forget his defeat in the final last year against Luke Humphries. Van Gerwen couldn’t keep up at times, while Littler won leg after leg, set after set. In the meantime, the teenager was even leading 4-0. An embarrassment for the 35-year-old van Gerwen, who was only able to win sentences little by little.
Nevertheless, Littler remained ice cold in the crucial moments – and in the end he deservedly secured the title with an average of 102.73 points. Van Gerwen averaged a slightly weaker 100.69 points.
“I can’t believe it, honestly, I just can’t believe it. Everyone dreams of winning this trophy,” said Littler after his triumph. The 35-year-old van Gerwen showed greatness after his fourth defeat in the final. “A champion is born every 17 years,” said the Dutchman. “Luke is one of them.”
In addition to the Sid Waddell Trophy, which weighs around 23 kg, Littler also received a check for 500,000 British pounds (more than 600,000 euros) for the victory.
Luke Littler 7:3 (3:1, 3:0, 3:1, 3:1, 1:3, 3:2, 2:3, 3:0, 1:3, 3:0) Michael van Gerwen
10th set, 3rd leg – Luke Littler is darts world champion! He did it at the age of 17. Unbelievable! He almost achieves a dream finish. 132 points remain. He hits the bullseye twice in a row, but then misses the match dart on double 16. But Van Gerwen can’t get to it anymore. And so Littler can throw three arrows at double 16 again. The first one whizzes past, the second one sits. World champion!
10th set, 2nd leg – That could have been it. Littler gets the break! At the end there are still 62 points, but “The Nuke” is there and checks them out. Just one more leg and he will be the youngest darts world champion in history.
10th set, 1st leg – Littler throws and takes the lead. He deletes his 48 remaining points via the 8, the 20 and his double 10.
9th set, 4th leg – This is the break for “Mighty Mike” and he reduces the lead to 3:6 after sets. So this is the tenth sentence. Nothing has been decided here yet!
9th set, 3rd leg – Van Gerwen doesn’t give up yet and takes a 2-1 lead because he starts the leg with a 180 and ends up checking out over double eight.
9th set, 2nd leg – Littler equalizes in the set, checks out the 40 points on double 20. He still needs two legs before he is world champion. The “Ally Pally” is bubbling!
9th set, 1st leg – Van Gerwen throws in, but Littler’s scoring does a 180 again. He almost makes the break, but misses the bullseye. “MvG” takes advantage of this and checks out via the triple 19 and the double 16.
8th set, 3rd leg – It’s absolute madness! Littler, Littler, Littler, what is he playing? Van Gerwen already throws a 140 and then a 180, but it’s still Littler who gets the leg and the set here because he also scores high and, unlike van Gerwen at the start of the game, leaves almost nothing out here. Now only one sentence separates Littler from the world title!
8th set, 2nd leg – The break for Littler! Is this a small preliminary decision? He scores 134, 140, 177 and 50 points on the board. Van Gerwen can’t keep up here despite a strong average. 2-0!