Walking in a Littler wonderland
A look at the rise of darts' newest sensation after he took the world by storm
It is said that hard work beats talent when talent does not work hard, but what happens when there is an abundance of both? Luke Littler is what happens.
A darting prodigy from a very early age, Littler first picked up a set of darts when he was 18 months old and has never looked back, growing into a teenage sensation touted by many within darting circles as “generational” long before he stepped on the Alexandra Palace stage.
But Michael van Gerwen was a generational talent, and his first World Championship win came at 24 years old. Rob Cross won on his debut, but he was 28. Phil Taylor was in his 30s when his career started to rocket. There is generational talent and then there is once in a lifetime.
The Modus Super Series lowered the age limit so Littler could compete and he won twice. He hit a nine-darter at just 14 years of age while competing. At the Alexandra Palace, he swept world champions and his idol Raymond van Barneveld aside on his way to the final in a fashion nearly nobody could have predicted.
Now, he has won a PDC senior title in his debut event on the Tour at the Bahrain Darts Masters. Oh, and he hit a nine-darter against Nathan Aspinall in the quarter-finals too.
What is there that this kid cannot do?
Anyone who thought the World Championship might have peaked in 2023 with the “Greatest leg of darts” ever seen when Michael Smith hit a nine-darter was wrong. There was still Littler to come.
His sensational 106.05 average in his 6-2 win over Cross in the semi-final was the fourth-highest in tournament history - only Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson had recorded higher. He was performing like a world champion before his career had even begun.
Littler may not be champion of the world yet, but he did something even more special. He got the whole world talking about a sport which anyone reading this probably loves.
Where it all started
Before the World Championship got under way, Sky Sports Darts’ Abigail Davies took a trip to the St Helens Darts Academy, the place where a wealth of talent has originated from.
The likes of Smith, Stephen Bunting, Dave Chisnall and Lisa Ashton have graced the academy, but they had a secret weapon they were still yet to unleash.
Littler began training at the academy at the age of nine and it was co-founder Karl Holden who took him under his wing.
"He was good when he was nine years old," Holden said. "When he got to 10, when we ran the darts academy, we had a rule, to play on stage you had to be over 15. We had to change that for Luke because of his ability, he was just unbelievable.
"He was playing U21s when he was 10 because he was simply too good. He’s not just started playing good at the World Championship, he’s been playing darts for a while and got better and better every year. He wants to win, loves to win and you see him on stage, enjoying himself and just loving it, being a great dart player.
“We’ve had over a thousand kids at the academy over the years. Some play well for a few years then leave, some don’t progress as much as they expected, but Luke’s just shocked us.
“Every six months he seems to have got a few percent better. He’s averaging 100 for fun and has done 110, 120 averages in 2023 - that’s just unbelievable. There are not many players in the world who can do that type of thing in matches. Luke has got that ability.”
Luke's rapid rise
As a 12-year-old, Littler won the England Youth Grand Prix in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic put a halt on all sports.
In 2021, he won the England Open youth title and notched up his first seniors title at the Irish Open, qualifying for Lakeside World Championship at the age of 14.
He went on to lose in the last 16 to Richard Veenstra, who recorded the highest average of the event’s history to beat Littler.
In the same year, Littler punched in a nine-darter at the JDC MVG Masters tournament and people within darts started to become aware of a new kid on the block.
In 2022, Littler averaged 121.86 in one of his matches as he starred at the WDF Europe Cup Youth, where he won gold in the three men's competitions (singles, team and overall). Such was his performance, he was selected by England for the youth tournament, where he was part of the team which won gold.
In the Junior World Championship at the end of the year, Littler won the title convincingly by thrashing Harry Gregory 5-0.
More impressive performances and youth titles came in 2023, including the PDC World Youth Championship where he beat Gian van Veen 6-4.
At the end of the year, though, something particularly special happened…
Stunning the whole world
A 106.12 average from Littler in his first-round match of the 2024 World Darts Championship raised a few eyebrows as Christian Kist was thrashed 3-0.
The teenage sensation beat Andrew Gilding 3-1 in his second match, but learned a lesson to not let out too much emotion after 'Goldfinger' worked his way back into the match.
Matt Campbell was up next in round three and he was put away 4-1, and Littler followed that up by getting the better of five-time world champion Van Barneveld by the same scoreline.
Brendan Dolan may have knocked out former champions Gerwyn Price and Anderson, but 'The History Maker' was blown away 5-1 by Littler in the quarter-finals.
Semi-final time, and Littler found himself behind for the first time in the tournament when he lost the opening set to 2018 champion Cross. It did not faze him, though, as he went on to win 6-2 and the teenage dream continued.
This section does not do justice as to just how good it was that Littler found himself in the World Championship final - the biggest match of the year.
The in-form Luke Humphries stood in his way of glory, and the pair served up a high-quality final.
Littler lost the first set but kept calm and dug deep to go 4-2 up. The match seemed to turn on a missed D2 for Littler in the deciding leg of the seventh set, however, which Humphries punished to make it 4-3, before winning the next four sets to take a 7-4 victory.
Becoming world champion would have been the cherry on the cake for Littler, but his performance over the three weeks at Ally Pally did the talking. That is how it should be.
Luke denied by Luke
Humphries had a year to remember on the PDC circuit as, winning the Grand Slam, Grand Prix and Players Championship - three major titles which made him the favourite going into the World Championship.
It took him a while to hit a purple patch of form, however, and he was very close to losing against Ricardo Pietreczko, and Joe Cullen, who had match darts in a last-16 epic.
He burst into life on the Ally Pally stage in his semi-final against Scott Williams though, with six ton-plus checkouts helping him on his way to a dominant 6-0 win. His confidence was certainly back and he took that into the final where he overcame a brilliant Littler.
"In the back of my mind throughout the day I’m thinking ‘get this one now or he’s going to dominate world darts soon’," Humphries said of Littler. "He’s an incredible player. When I was on the brink of running, he was so relentless.
“He’s an incredible talent and I had to win this one tonight. He’s going to win plenty, I’m sure.
“It’s not just on the dart board but all the media that’s come about. He took defeat so well. You will never see another down to earth 16-year-old kid like him, who’s just something else.
“I really hope he’s in the Premier League. It will be a pleasure to play alongside him. He’s one of the best players in the world, there’s no doubt about that.”
Pundit praise
Sky Sports Darts' Wayne Mardle:
"I can't remember someone going up there with such a swagger and just banging in 180s and hitting 11 and 12-darters like they are going out of fashion.
"I'm a darts fan first and foremost, I was watching it and I had goosebumps watching him. I love people achieving and that was a boy achieving something on the world stage.
"We may never see the like again. We saw it with Phil Taylor and then we saw it with Michael van Gerwen. This may be the third coming of that. I don't know, but I'm a little bit carried away.
"I have seen Adrian Lewis in full swing, Gary Anderson, Van Gerwen - I have seen them all. I don't think I have ever seen the like."
What has Littler done for darts after the Worlds?
The numbers say it all. The 2024 World Darts Championship enjoyed record-breaking viewing figures thanks to Littler's fairy-tale.
His semi-final against Cross averaged 1.79m viewers with a peak of 2.32m viewers, up by 40 percent on the previous overall record (1.65m) for the final in January between Gary Anderson and Phil Taylor.
A day later, new records were set when a total audience of 4.8m people tuned into Littler's final against Humphries - the highest-ever non-football audience for Sky Sports.
People who have never watched a darts match were watching the second half of the tournament, and everyone was talking about Littler. He was 16 at the time, in case you were unaware.
Numerous sports have had someone break through at a very young age and go on to be one of the greats. Think Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or Pele in football, Boris Becker, Coco Gauff, and Martina Hingis in tennis, Max Verstappen in Formula 1, Usain Bolt in athletics, Ronnie O'Sullivan in snooker. You name it, this is the kind of league we are talking about with Littler.
It is not just his talent, but his personality and the way he handled everything during the World Championship which was phenomenal too. If he keeps himself in great shape away from the oche, there is no doubt he can be a top darts player for decades to come.
Above all, throw your darts, enjoy it and lap it all up Luke Littler, because he has put the game on the world map again and there is not much else bigger than that in sport. Not bad for a 16-year-old.
What next? Winning straight away, of course!
Littler wins the Bahrain Darts Masters
You thought the Littler-Mania had finished and then what does he do? He wins the Bahrain Masters.
Not only that, he hits a nine-darter in the opening leg of the quarter-final, beating Nathan Aspinall, Gerwyn Price, and Michael van Gerwen on his way to glory.
He really is the REAL DEAL...
'Littler is the real deal and wonderful for darts'
Sky Sports Michael Bridge said:
"It is absolutely unbelievable. He is 17 in two days, he has hit a nine-darter. He beat Nathan Aspinall, Gerwyn Price, then beats Michael van Gerwen in the final. Littler-mania is still running wild.
"We are going to see him February 1 in the Premier League in Cardiff. If there was any doubt about putting this guy in the Premier League it is over. He is the real deal.
"When the names were announced, there were a couple saying he isn't ready. He is ready.
"He is a sensational player. He has not come out of nowhere, he was hitting nine-darters in junior tournaments at 13 and 14 years of age.
"It is a phenomonal achievement, it is a wonderful story, and it is just wonderful for darts."
Van Gerwen gets one back
At the Dutch Masters, Littler thrived once again, getting revenge on Humphries and then beating Price once again for a spot in the final.
This time, Van Gerwen ultimately came out on top but now we have a big rivalry to follow in the Premier League in the weeks to come ...
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