Twelve months ago, there were whispers about an up-and-coming teenage talent named Luke Littler who could impress at the World Darts Championship. And impress he certainly did.
A month or so out from Alexandra Palace in 2023, Littler went into the World Youth Championship final against favourite Gian van Veen and picked up a 6-4 victory in Minehead at 16 years of age.
That gave him £10,000 and a place in the 2024 Grand Slam of Darts. Now, he has earned over £600,000 in prize money and won that very Grand Slam in November, reeling off 15 legs in a row in the final against Martin Lukeman.
Littler has then gone from strength to strength, picking up 10 titles: The Premier League, Grand Slam of Darts, World Series of Darts, Bahrain Darts Masters, Poland Darts Masters, Austrian Darts Open, Belgian Darts Open, and Players Championship (x3).
This feat of winning 10 titles in a year is something only completed before by Michael van Gerwen, Phil Taylor and Peter Wright, a symbol of just how impressive the 17-year-old has been.
While confident he could cause a stir, not even Littler himself could have imagined the year he has had.
“Not a chance. But that (the World Youth Final) was the one that really got it for me,” Littler said.
“Then obviously went on to the Worlds and done good things, and then got invited to World Series, Premier League, and then played on the Pro Tour and the European Tour.”
Littler credits his Premier League campaign, in which he hit a nine-darter in the final against Luke Humphries, as the tournament that spurred him onto more.
“It was definitely good to win, but obviously early on I was, I wouldn’t say struggling, but I was always fourth, fifth without a nightly win, so I was always picking up points,” he added.
“But when I won in Belfast, I really thought I could win a lot more, obviously winning Manchester, Liverpool and then Aberdeen.
“But hitting that winning double against Luke meant a lot.”
In form for the Worlds? It certainly helps!
The last two winners of the World Darts Championship have headed to Ally Pally as the winner of the Grand Slam of Darts.
In 2024, the player with that title is Littler himself.
While many love a superstition, the ‘Nuke’ just sees it as a ranking title that will only help him complete his ambitions.
“It’ll definitely help, winning anything would help towards the Worlds,” Littler said.
“It is just practice up until the Worlds and the Championships.”
One thing that Littler will always have in his favour at the Palace is the crowd who back him in every match.
Littler admitted that he really enjoyed the chants from the last Worlds and hopes to hear a certain one again this year.
“Obviously it means a lot, when I walk on they sing ‘There’s only one Luke Littler’,” he said.
“Hopefully ‘You’ve got school in the morning’ chant comes back this year, I’d like to hear that again!
“It definitely helps me a lot and it’ll get me up for it even more, just to win for them, but obviously it’s a win for myself.”
Anyone from the Manchester United squad, come watch me!
With Littler’s stratospheric run at the Worlds bringing a whole new barrage of media attention, Ally Pally started to see more and more celebrities watching the 17-year-old in action, including Manchester United legend David Beckham sending him a good luck message before the 2023/24 final.
For Littler though, his dream face to see in the audience is just anyone from the Manchester United squad.
“I don’t really know, I know James Maddison was there, I’m pretty sure a few of the Newcastle boys were there, I know Dan Burn was,” he said.
“I would just like anyone from the United squad, just anyone, just come watch me.”
The 17-year-old knows though that the Worlds, as ever, is going to be tough as players raise their game, especially to face him.
First up for Littler is a potential clash with either Fallon Sherrock or Ryan Meikle and he is “fully focused” on performing well to return after Christmas.
“You’ve always got to be on your A game, but obviously as the game goes on you know that if they’re playing well you’ve got to step up and you’ve got to compete against them,” Littler added.
“We’ll just see how it goes, obviously you can only beat what’s in front of you so you’ve just got to look at your next opponent in the Worlds.
“It will be one game before the Christmas break so be fully focused for that, have Christmas off and then we’ll travel back down hopefully another long December, start of January in London.”
When will the World Darts Championship take place?
The tournament gets under way at Alexandra Palace on Sunday December 15, with three first-round matches and one second-round match on the opening evening.
There will be live darts over each of the following eight days, including seven afternoon sessions, with the usual three-day break from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day before returning with the third round and a double session on December 27.
The third and fourth rounds will be completed by December 30 before a night off on New Year’s Eve, with the quarter-finals held across two sessions on New Year’s Day ahead of the semi-finals on January 2 and the final on Friday January 3.
The full day-by-day schedule for this year’s tournament can be found here.
Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch every match exclusively live from December 15-January 3 on Sky Sports’ dedicated darts channel. Stream darts and more top sport with NOW.
