Luke Littler Makes History as Youngest World Darts Champion at 17

On Friday, Luke Littler became the youngest darts world champion in history, and the 17-year-old Englishman lived up to his reputation as Britain’s newest sports superstar.

In a raucous final at London’s Alexandra Palace, Littler beat three-time champion Michael van Gerwen 7-3.

“Everyone dreams of lifting this trophy,” said Littler, who also took the winner’s check of 500,000 pounds ($620,000). “I can’t believe it.”

This caps off a remarkable rise for the prodigy from Warrington, northwest England, who went from throwing his first darts as an 18-month-old to becoming junior world champion in 2023 and again in 2024. He reached the world final as a 16-year-old, but lost to top-seeded Luke Humphries.

This catapulted him to stardom, making him famous far beyond the darts division and bringing the sport back into the mainstream as it had done in its heyday in the 1980s.

Littler withstood the immense pressure and expectation of returning to the final 12 months later, taking a 4–0 set lead against van Gerwen, himself a young player who took the darts world by storm in 2014 and 2017 before becoming world champion in 2019.

The Dutchman won 4–1, 5–2, 6–3 but Littler was unstoppable, breaking down in tears after hitting the deciding double.

“Wow, wow, wow,” he could be seen saying.

“At 2-0 up, I started getting nervous,” Littler said later, “but I said to myself, ‘Relax.’ To get it over and done with is special.”

Van Gerwen was previously the youngest world champion in the Professional Darts Corporation’s elite competition, winning the 2014 final at the age of 24. Jelle Klaassen won the now-defunct British Darts organisation’s world title in 2006 at the age of 21.

Van Gerwen said losing the record “hurt” but praised Littler.

“Every 17 years a star gets born,” Van Gerwen said, “and he is one of them.”

Many were already wondering about Littler’s ability to match Phil Taylor’s incredible 16-title record. Now, claiming a first title at the age of 17 will intensify that discussion.