British teenager Luke Littler made history Friday evening in London, becoming the youngest ever world darts champion at the tender age of 17.
The young man from Warrington threw 12 maximum scores of 180 (60 points per dart, all landing in the treble 20 slot) in a one-sided final that saw him conquer Michael van Gerwen 7-3. The Dutchman, who is a three-times world champion himself, was never really in contention, despite throwing 13 maximum 180s, and wasn’t able to land the crucial double scores required to finish each round.
Three weeks short of his 18th birthday, Littler has become a superstar of the game which has seen new levels of popularity due to his meteoric rise. Attendance demand was unprecedented for the final, with ticket prices reaching £1,000 online during the day of the event.
Littler began playing darts as a tiny boy and soon started beating grown men at the game. He credits the practise hours he was able to put in during lockdown for his skill, and previously told The Times of London in interview that he would consider retiring at the age of 27, if he’d had enough of the game by then.
He got to the same final last year, but was beaten then by Luke Humphries. Since then, Littler became the youngest ever player to complete a nine-dart finish, the shortest route from 501 to zero, and achieved the same feat again this week on his way to pocketing the PDC World Championship prize of £500,000 plus a trophy.
