Teenage sensation Luke Littler hoping to inspire the next generation to play darts after his fairytale World Championship run

The 16-year-old debutant has taken the sport by storm by reaching the final at Alexandra Palace, where he was beaten by world number one Luke Humphries on Wednesday night.

He was one win away from becoming darts’ youngest champion and earning sporting immortality but went down 7-4 in the final.

His performances over the last fortnight have earned him celebrity status and have transcended the world of darts as everyone has wanted a piece of the teenager from Warrington.

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And Littler, who left school with just one GCSE in the summer to concentrate on his darts, wants to be an inspiration to other kids.

“I have caught a load of people’s attention,” he said. “It is just unbelievable, I hope I have caught lots of young people’s minds to get on a board and just try it out.

“If they don’t like it that’s fine but I’d advise them to give it a go because it is a good sport and once you get into it you’ll always love it.

“If you love the darts why don’t you get on the board and try and be like me or one of the other top professionals.”

Life has changed forever for Littler, who pocketed a £200,000 prize for finishing second and has got even more earning power owing to his celebrity status.

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“I have just got to be myself and be the Luke Littler I have been here for the last three to four weeks,” he added.

“It has changed me a lot, I have broke into the top 32, I have got a bit of money now, which is going to help. Getting into the top 32 will definitely help me qualify for pretty much every event in the year.

“It’s a losing start to the year, but it is also a good start to the year. I will take the positives.”

The line-up for the Premier League is released on Thursday and Humphries believes Littler deserves to be included.

“Luke Littler is an unbelievable talent, he has an incredibly mature head on young shoulders,” the newly-crowned world champion told TalkSPORT.

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“If he is in the Premier League that will be amazing as it will change his life. I believe it is probably for the good if he does (play in the Premier League). He deseves to be in this Premier League.

“If you are going to be overawed in anything it would be a world final so I don’t think he would be overawed by the Premier League.”

Littler coach proud

Luke Littler’s former coach hailed the 16-year-old’s efforts as “absolutely amazing”.

Karl Holden, co-founder of St Helens Darts Academy, which Littler attended from the age of nine, told the PA news agency: “Definitely not the result we wanted, but he’s playing the best player in the world.

“To play the best player in the world and do what he has done is absolutely amazing. How can somebody who is 16 do that? I don’t know.

“I’m absolutely delighted to watch him in the final. I’m absolutely over the moon for him.

“End of the day, hats off to him. I’ve told the kids…appreciate great darts, and that’s what we’ve seen tonight.”

Holden added: “At the age of 16, he’s one of the biggest names in world sport, never mind world darts. Just to have him in this club was a privilege.

“Obviously we put our little part in, but it’s his ability that is causing mayhem around the world.

“He’s just at the beginning of his superstar career. We’re very proud of him, we really are.”

While Littler’s name was barely known beyond Warrington and St Helens before the start of the world championship last month, this is no overnight success story.

Early starter

Speaking before the final, which he watched as members held a party at the academy’s home, Holden said: “He has been coming here since he was nine.

“When he first came as a kid you could see he was very special and he just got better and better. Every year he was a bit better than the last.

“We put him up to the under-14s when he was nine, but three months after that he was smashing all them to bits.

“He hardly lost so we said, ‘What do we do now?’ We put him into the elite group, which is our best players and he had just turned 10.

“Obviously he puts a lot of hours in and we had to tell him to stop coming as he was so good.

“He needed to be playing at a better standard. He was good enough to win men’s tournaments at 13 or 14. And he did. His ability is second to none.

“The best players reach a level in their twenties that he’s reached at 16.

“We’ve produced some good players. Probably about 40 county players, but Luke is something else.”

Luke Littler 4-7 Luke Humphries: Match stats

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• Set scores: 1-3, 3-2, 2-3, 3-1, 3-1, 3-0, 2-3, 1-3, 2-3, 1-3, 2-3
• Averages
  Littler: 101.13
  Humphries: 103.67
• 180s
  Littler: 13
  Humphries: 23
• Checkout %
  Littler: 36.5% (23/63)
  Humphries: 43.1% (25/58)
• 100+ Checkouts
  Littler: 170, 142, 122, 120
  Humphries: 170, 121, 116, 108x2

Luke Littler v Luke Humphries: Routes to the final

LUKE LITTLER

• R1: 3-0 v Christian Kist
  Set scores: 3-0, 3-1, 3-1
  Average: 106.12
  180s: 7 (0.63 per leg)
  100+ Checkouts: 1 (High: 106)
  Checkout %: 50% (9/18)
• R2: 3-1 v Andrew Gilding
  Set scores: 3-2, 3-2, 0-3, 3-1
  Average: 92.65
  180s: 5 (0.29 per leg)
  100+ Checkouts: 0 (High: 80)
  Checkout %: 34.6% (9/26)
• R3: 4-1 v Matt Campbell
  Set scores: 3-0, 3-0, 3-2, 2-3, 3-1
  Average: 97.19
  180s: 8 (0.40 per leg)
  100+ Checkouts: 3 (High: 164)
  Checkout %: 40% (14/35)
• R4: 4-1 v Raymond van Barneveld
  Set scores: 3-1, 3-1, 3-2, 2-3, 3-2
  Average: 105.01
  180s: 9 (0.39 per leg)
  100+ Checkouts: 1 (High: 100)
  Checkout %: 50% (14/28)
• QF: 5-1 v Brendan Dolan
  Set scores: 3-2, 3-0, 3-2, 3-1, 1-3, 3-0
  Average: 101.93
  180s: 5 (0.23 per leg)
  100+ Checkouts: 3 (High: 140)
  Checkout %: 47.1% (16/34)
• SF: 6-2 v Rob Cross
  Set scores: 2-3, 3-2, 3-1, 3-2, 2-3, 3-1, 3-1, 3-2
  Average: 106.05
  180s: 16 (0.43 per leg)
  100+ Checkouts: 3 (High: 149)
  Checkout %: 46.8% (22/47)

LUKE HUMPHRIES

• R2: 3-0 v Lee Evans
  Set scores: 3-1, 3-2, 3-2
  Average: 93.58
  180s: 6 (0.43 per leg)
  100+ Checkouts: 0 (High: 85)
  Checkout %: 37.5% (9/24)
• R3: 4-3 v Ricardo Pietreczko
  Set scores: 3-1, 1-3, 2-3, 0-3, 3-2, 3-1, 3-0
  Average: 91.38
  180s: 6 (0.21 per leg)
  100+ Checkouts: 0 (High: 96)
  Checkout %: 37.5% (15/40)
• R4: 4-3 v Joe Cullen
  Set scores: 2-3, 0-3, 3-1, 3-2, 2-3, 3-0, 6-5
  Average: 99.23
  180s: 12 (0.33 per leg)
  100+ Checkouts: 2 (High: 100)
  Checkout %: 33.9% (19/56)
• QF: 5-1 v Dave Chisnall
  Set scores: 3-1, 2-3, 3-1, 3-2, 3-2, 3-0
  Average: 103.50
  180s: 12 (0.43 per leg)
  100+ Checkouts: 3 (High: 164)
  Checkout %: 40.5% (17/42)
• SF: 6-0 v Scott Williams
  Set scores: 3-2, 3-0, 3-2, 3-2, 3-0, 3-1
  Average: 108.74
  180s: 14 (0.56 per leg)
  100+ Checkouts: 6 (High: 170)
  Checkout %: 60% (18/30)

Littler v Humphries: 2024 World Championship statistics

(Luke Littler figures on the left)

• Tournament Average: 101.6 - 100.5
  100+ match averages: 5 - 3
  Highest average: 106.12 (R1) - 108.74 (SF)
  Lowest average: 92.65 (R2) - 91.38 (R2)
• Tournament 180s: 63 - 73
  180s per leg: 0.35 - 0.41
• Checkout percentage: 42.62% (107/251) - 41.2% (103/250)
• Sets won/lost: 29/13 - 29/11
  Legs won/lost: 107/73 - 103/74
• 100+ checkouts: 15 - 16
  Per leg won: 14.01% - 15.53%
  Highest checkout: 170 - 170x2

World Championship Darts 2024: Averages

100+ match averages

1. Luke Humphries - 108.74 (v Scott Williams, SF)
2. Stephen Bunting - 107.28 (v Ryan Joyce, R2)
3. Luke Littler - 106.12 (v Christian Kist, R1)
4. Luke Littler - 106.05 (v Rob Cross, SF)
5. Luke Littler - 105.01 (v Raymond van Barneveld, R4)
6. Luke Humphries - 103.67 (v Luke Littler, F)
7. Luke Humphries - 103.50 (v Dave Chisnall, QF)
8. Ross Smith - 103.33 (v Chris Dobey, R3)
9. Chris Dobey - 103.09 (v William O'Conner, R2)
10. Rob Cross - 102.77 (v Luke Littler, SF)
11. Michael Smith - 102.47 (v Chris Dobey, R4)
12. Chris Dobey - 102.43 (v Michael Smith, R4)
13. Chris Dobey - 102.36 (v Ross Smith, R3)
14. Luke Littler - 101.93 (v Brendan Dolan, QF)
15. Michael van Gerwen - 101.39 (v Richard Veenstra, R3)
16. Rob Cross - 101.32 (v Jeffrey de Graaf, R3)
17. Stephen Bunting - 101.15 (v Florian Hempel, R3)
18. Luke Littler - 101.13 (v Luke Humphries, F)
19. Daryl Gurney - 100.79 (v Steve Beaton, R2)
20. Rob Cross - 100.70 (v Chris Dobey, QF)
21. Ryan Joyce - 100.32 (v Alex Spellman, R1)
22. Michael Smith - 100.09 (v Kevin Doets, R2)

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