Who is Luke Littler? Things to know about the darts sensation who is world champion at age 17
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/01/2025 (447 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Luke Littler has won the world darts championship at the age of 17 after beating Michael van Gerwen 7-3 in the final in London on Friday.
He became the youngest ever world champion in darts.
Here are some things to know about Britain’s latest sporting sensation:
Starting young
Littler threw his first dart — onto a magnetic board — at 18 months old, with a video showing him doing so while wearing a diaper. Littler started throwing steel tip darts at the age of 4 or 5, and he says he was throwing them from competition length — from an oche, or throwing line — at age 6 or 7. He won his first title at senior level when he was age 14, at the Irish Open in 2021.
Global phenomenon
Littler burst into global consciousness — and brought a new wave of followers to darts — by reaching the final of last year’s world championship at the age of 16, in his first appearance at the tournament. To the backdrop of chants of “You’ve got school in the morning” from a boisterous crowd, Littler became the youngest player to win a match on the sport’s highest stage and then beat two former world champions to get to the title match, where he lost to top-ranked Luke Humphries. He celebrated his victories with kebabs and filled his down-time by playing video games.
Money, money, money
Being a world championship runner-up earned Littler 200,000 pounds ($255,000) and he finished 2024 with total prize money topping 1 million pounds ($1.28 million) after winning 10 tournaments around the world, including in Bahrain and Amsterdam and climbing to No. 4 in the world.
More searched than King Charles
Last month, Google announced that Littler was Britain’s most-searched athlete in 2024 and the third most-searched person, behind Kate Middleton and President-elect Donald Trump and just ahead of recently elected U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and King Charles. He has 1.5 million followers on Instagram, up from 4,000 before last year’s worlds.
The Littler Effect
Steve Brown, chairman of the Junior Darts Corporation, told the BBC the Littler effect has seen the number of academies for children under the age of 16 double to 115 in the last year and they can be found in places like Bulgaria and Mongolia. Brown said his corporation has more than 3,000 members, up from 1,600 12 months ago.
Home life
Littler — nicknamed “Luke the Nuke” — still lives at home with his parents, Lisa Littler and Anthony Buckley, in Warrington in northwest England. He is a Manchester United fan and received a message from David Beckham during the 2024 worlds.
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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports