Still a teenager but there are few weaknesses in his game

Whether he beat or lost to Michael van Gerwen on the Alexandra Palace stage on Friday night, Luke Littler was al going to leave his second World Darts Championship as a winner.

- LUKE BAKER

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 11darter 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.

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.