Luke Littler has been on the professional darts tour for less than two years. He turned the sporting world upside down and crowned himself the youngest world champion in history. Now, at 18, he has reached the top.
Luke Humphries has done everything in his power. To maintain his position at the top of the world darts rankings after the Grand Slam in Wolverhampton, the Englishman will need to win the tournament, which was already clear at the start of the final day on Sunday. At the same time, his great rival Luke Littler was not allowed to reach the final. Humphries kept his chances of winning the tournament alive with a 16:13 win in the top grade semi-final against Gerwyn Price.
“This could be my last day as number one, who knows,” Humphries said afterwards. From now on, the role of observer was his, the ball was in Littler’s hands. A win against Dutchman Danny Noppert and the 18-year-old will be number one in his sport for the first time. In pregame interviews, Littler repeatedly brought up this exact situation.
The fact that Littler was perhaps feeling more pressure than usual was apparent early in his game. He was starting to become thin-skinned. As the crowd celebrated as Littler attempted to erase 104 points, the superstar responded by shaking his head and repeatedly pointing at the crowd. Moments later, Littler conceded a seven-point shot — every amateur player can relate to that feeling — with his arms raised.
Noppert didn’t pay much attention to this, stuck to himself and played very well. The prize: The first two sessions, interrupted by commercial breaks, went to the Dutchman. He led 6:4, moments later 8:6. Should Littler be stopped from becoming the best?
The answer fits Luke Littler’s path perfectly. Every time you think a game is going away, something big pops up somewhere. This time it hit the mark, the red button in the middle of the disc, being Littler’s best friend. First he entered the field to make a payout of 128 to make it 8:8, not long after he corrected an incoming arrow to his arrow on the same course to make it 10:9.
It was a lull in the game. Noppert reached his worst phase, while Littler didn’t give up anymore. Like the day before in the quarterfinals against Josh Rock, he won seven legs in a row. He finishes his big moment at double 20. 16:9. Final. The new number one in darts.
“The goal has been achieved,” Littler said
Littler accepted the stunning career highlight with barely a smile. “I haven’t even been on tour for two years and I’m already world number one. The goal has been achieved. But tonight I have a more important match ahead of me,” he said on stage. In the nearly two years Littler has been a professional, he has completely changed the sport. Seven major titles, the youngest world champion of all time in January, now logically also the youngest world number one of all time. The world of darts has never seen such talent at such a young age.
“I’ve said all year that Luke Humphries is the best in the world. Now I’m the best in the world,” Littler said. Humphries had previously been number one for almost 23 months. The two will face off in the final on Sunday night (8pm/DAZN and Sport 1). This is not significant for the world rankings, in fact if Humphries wins, Littler will get more prize money from Monday. But it is an important indicator of performance before the World Cup (December 11 to January 3). In the last three years, the Grand Slam winner has also triumphed at Alexandra Palace for several weeks.
Humphries is already preparing a declaration of war for the World Cup: “At the World Cup I have the opportunity to take back the position from him. I will fight hard, now it’s war.”
Grand Slam of Darts, results
Semifinals
- Gerwyn Price (WAL) – Luke Humphries (ENG) 13:16
- Danny Noppert (NED) – Luke Littler (ENG) 9:16
final
Luke Humphries (ENG) – Luke Littler (ENG)
Luca Wiecek is the sports editor for WELT. For the club VfD Berlin Rocket He’s certainly thrown more seven-pointers than Luke Littler in his career.
