The Luke Littler era has officially begun – and it goes well beyond darts

The 17-year-old completed his coronation as King of the Palace by beating Michael van Gerwen and the sky is now the limit for one of sport’s greatest-ever teenagers

Whether he beat or lost to Michael van Gerwen on the Alexandra Palace stage on Friday night, Luke Littler was always going to leave his second World Darts Championship as a winner. After all, he is the catalyst for and the face of the ongoing darts boom – all as a 17-year-old.

As it happened, Littler rubber-stamped his status as a generational talent and completed his coronation as King of the Palace by taking his first world title in ruthlessly impressive fashion.

From a break of throw in the opening leg of the match, to a 11-darter when he smelt weakness in the second set, to a 4-0 lead that turned into a crushing 7-3 triumph thanks to a 102.73 average and a superb 56 per cent success rate on the doubles, Littler dismantled the three-time world champion.

It was brutal, it was exhilarating to watch and raised questions about just how high the ceiling is for this unstoppable darting teenager.

“I know where I went wrong last year, I’m sure I’ll fix it,” Littler had matter-of-factly stated ahead of the final. And, boy, did he.

Twelve months ago, as a 16-year-old, he led Luke Humphries 4-2 in the showpiece and missed a dart at double two to extend that advantage to 5-2. Instead, Humphries snatched the seventh set and roared past his young opponent to triumph 7-4 and win a first world title of his own – teaching the teen a lesson about the fine margins in elite sport.

Luke Littler celebrated winning his first world title at the expense of Michael van Gerwen (Zac Goodwin/PA Wire)

It was a contrast to 12 months ago when Littler watched Luke Humphries celebrates with the trophy (PA)

That defeat did nothing to slow the rise of ‘Littler-mania’, as he went on to win 10 titles during his first full year on the PDC tour – including the Premier League and the Grand Slam of Darts – but the way he corrected the mistakes of 2024 so spectacularly on the biggest stage a year later is a warning shot for all his opponents.

He built into the tournament after a relatively slow start in his first couple of matches and by the time he reached the final, Van Gerwen was just another minor hurdle to be mowed down by the Littler freight train. This time when he established a lead, racing 4-0 ahead before his Dutch foe could even draw breath, he kept his foot on the gas and charged through the finishing line.

Not since 2018, when Rob Cross beat a fading Phil Taylor 7-2 with a 107.67 average, has there been a bigger margin of victory in the World Championship final.

There appear to be few weaknesses in Littler’s game but the ability to quickly identify and fix those there are mark him out as truly elite. Suggestions that he might eventually surpass Taylor’s ludicrous haul of 16 world titles are ridiculously premature but it’s hard to see how he doesn’t dominate darts in a Taylor-esque fashion for the foreseeable future.

Humphries predicted it when, after last year’s final, he said: “All day, in the back of my mind, I’ve been thinking, ‘Get this won now, because he [Littler] is going to dominate world darts soon.’”

Littler looks set to dominate darts (Action Images via Reuters)

The one question that remained – whether he could allay the ghosts of 12 months ago – was so emphatically answered that there can be no doubt that we’re now in the Littler era.

The teenager had already flung darts into the sporting mainstream, with viewing figures on Sky Sports skyrocketing to second only behind the juggernaut of Premier League football.

He has rocked up on The Jonathan Ross Show and made an appearance in the one-off special reboot of Bullseye, hosted by Freddie Flintoff, that brought 3.3m viewers to ITV over the festive period and has prompted calls for a full-scale return of the gameshow.

Littler has 1.5m followers on Instagram – for context, that’s more than double the amount of Van Gerwen – and has boosted his popularity with appearances alongside social media influencers such as the Sidemen and Angry Ginge.

In 2024, he was Google searched in the UK more than any other sportsperson, and more than the likes of Keir Starmer and King Charles III, while his branded junior magnetic dartboard reportedly sold more than 100,000 units ahead of Christmas.

Littler is now a world champion at the age of 17 (Zac Goodwin/PA Wire)

Littler appeared on the reboot of Bullseye over the Christmas period (ITV)

In short, he is the Professional Darts Corporation’s cash cow and head honcho Barry Hearn has no qualms in admitting it. “I’m so difficult to buy for because I’m old and I’ve got most things I want,” grinned Hearn, arguably the greatest promoter in British sporting history. “Then someone gave me Luke Littler.”

This world title means he joins the pantheon of legendary sporting teenagers. He can now deservedly be compared to the likes of Martina Hingis, who won three of the four tennis grand slams in a single season at the age of 16, Boris Becker, who won Wimbledon as a 17 year old, and Pele, who lifted the World Cup for Brazil at 17 having scored the winning goal in the quarter-final, a hat-trick in the semi-final and a double in the final.

It’s a brilliance previously unseen at his age in darts, even from Taylor or Van Gerwen. The question of where he can go from here and what heights he can reach should be one that excites all sports fans. Who knows, perhaps his 2025 season will be even more special than 2024 was.

But the 2025 World Darts Championship will always hold a special place in his heart as his first of who knows how many. This is now Luke Littler’s world and we’re all just living in it.