Teenage darts sensation Luke Littler becomes youngest ever PDC champion

Seventeen year old, Luke Littler triumphed over three time PDC World Champion, and previous youngest PDC champion, Michael van Gerwen with a 7-3 victory. Littler dominated the match from the beginning taking a 4-0 lead, which the dutchman struggled to come back from.

Throughout the final, Littler averaged just over 102, and scored twelve 180s, just one less than his competitor. During the competition as a whole, he scored an average of 100 in 5 out of 6 matches, and hit seventy-six 180s, earning him the Ballon D’Art Trophy, alongside the Sid Waddell Trophy and the £500,000 prize pot.

Littler broke Van Gerwen’s record as the youngest ever PDC World Championship winner, a title he held for 11 years

Despite his tremendous skill and the 157 PDC titles under his belt, Van Gerwen made little impact during the match. Whilst he was able to match Littler’s average of 100, he often failed to accurately hit his shots, missing 24 out of 38 possible doubles.

Regardless, ‘Mighty Mike’ did not seem disheartened. During his post-match interview, he gave nothing but praise to Littler, adding “every 17 years, a star gets born”. This comes after Littler broke Van Gerwen’s record as the youngest ever PDC World Championship winner, a title he held for 11 years after his victory in 2014 at just 24.

Littler’s spirits remained high, and he finished the year with ten titles

Perhaps one of the most striking aspects of Littler’s success is his ability to maintain composure and limit the impact of his nerves, particularly at such a young age. Understandably, he can become overwhelmed by the pressure of these events, as seen after he secured a third round spot in the World Championship tournament, when he was reduced to tears. However, as 16 time PDC World Champion, Phil Taylor explains, Littler is “a breath of fresh air” for the sport.

2024 as a whole was a year of success for the nearly 18-year-old, despite its rocky start. The year unfortunately began with Littler’s defeat in the previous year’s PDC World Championship final, in which fellow Brit, and number one ranked in the PDC Order of Merit, Luke Humphries won his first World Championship title, beating 16-year-old Littler 7-4. In spite of this defeat, Littler’s spirits remained high, and he finished the year with ten titles, including the Premier League (his first major PDC title), World Series, and Grand Slam titles.

As a result of his success, “The Nuke” has been promoted to second place in the PDC Order of Merit

Although Littler demonstrated immense skill during his World Championship campaign, he was nearly knocked out in the competition’s third round by unseeded, Ryan Joyce, as the match eventually finished 4-3 in Littler’s favour. Perhaps the most surprising result of the entire competition occurred during the semi-finals, when Littler cruised past world number five, Stephen Bunting, thrashing him 6-1.

As a result of his success, “The Nuke” has been promoted to second place in the PDC Order of Merit, having started the competition in fourth position, and having climbed from 164th the previous year. With the Sid Waddell Trophy under his belt, Littler goes into next month’s Premier League Darts series as favourite, looking to not only defend his 2024 title, but to live up to his new title as PDC World Champion.