The English “prince” blew away the Dutch “king” Michael van Gerwen and his three crowns (2014, 2017 and 2019) in the supercharged atmosphere of Alexandra Palace in London. On Friday, Luke Littler became the youngest winner of the world darts championship, a British passion. Moved to tears, he brandished the trophy in front of hundreds of jubilant supporters, most of them in costumes. “I can't believe it“, he repeated, as if incredulous.
The young bearded man in the purple polo shirt is no longer the virtual unknown who, at the age of 16 and to everyone's surprise, was invited to the previous final, last year at the same place. At the time, the teenager had only played a handful of professional matches and was ranked only 164th in the world in the pub fetish discipline, mainly followed in the Anglo-Saxon world.
Baby shooter
From now on, Littler shares TV sets with Hollywood film stars and his prowess is scrutinized, dissected and highlighted by Sky Sports, delighted by the exposure brought by such a phenomenon. Just a year ago, his final against Luke Humphries was the most-watched sporting event, outside of football, in the English broadcaster's 34-year history, with 4.8 million viewers. And the next day, the press only had eyes for Luke “The Nuke”, despite the defeat.
With his skill and precision, the young shooter from the north of England amazed the aficionados of these crazy and abundantly alcoholic tournaments. When the United Kingdom discovered him at the beginning of 2024, he had also created a sensation with his humor and his frankness, revealing a way of life the antithesis of that of a professional athlete. “I don't get up until noon, I eat my cheese and ham omelette, then a pizza and I work out“, between two games of video games, he said.
Impressively calm during his matches, the champion threw his first dart at the age of 18 months and videos filmed by his family show him playing while in a diaper. “At ten years old, he was already much stronger” than other young people his age, his former coach at the St Helens darts academy, Karl Holden, recalled to the BBC.
BBC Young Sportsman of the Year 2024
Living in Warrington, between Manchester and Liverpool, Littler has attracted the sympathy of many athletes, the support of sponsors like Xbox, his favorite consoles, and now has more than 1.5 million subscribers on Instagram. After winning ten trophies last year and being more searched for on the internet than the British king or prime minister, he was named BBC Young Sportsman of the Year 2024. On this occasion, the teenager with the imposing build was delighted to have contributed to “changing this sport”, the number of junior academies of which has doubled since its advent.
Faced with rumors regarding his age, some British media went so far as to publish photos of his birth certificate, confirming that Littler was indeed born on January 21, 2007. The Englishman, who has yet to be officially accompanied by an adult for going to the pub, now devotes himself full time to the queen discipline. In 2024, he would have earned nearly 1.5 million dollars (1.46 million euros) before tax between tournaments and sponsors, according to Forbes magazine.
After his previous final, he made it known that he would not change his life and would always settle for “a kebab and a can of Tango”, a soft drink, after a victory. However, British media reported that the teenager had moved to a more comfortable home with his family and that they had treated themselves to a much-anticipated trip to Disney World in Florida.
