Luke Littler is the World Darts Championship for a second-straight year after thrashing Gian van Veen on Saturday night.
Littler went into the showpiece as the overwhelming favourite and lived up to his billing as he thumped Van Veen 7-1 in sets.
The teenage sensation becomes just the fourth player to win back-to-back world titles – having beaten Luke Humphries 12 months ago for his maiden crown. He joins Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis and Gary Anderson in achieving this feat.
As well as lifting the Sid Waddell trophy, the 18-year-old also collects a cool £1million in prize money.
Littler, who turns 19 on January 21, has reached the World Darts Championship final in every year he has entered – losing to Humphries in 2024 before exacting revenge last year and now beating Van Veen.
Saturday brought a lucky 13th win for ‘The Nuke’ at Alexandra Palace – with the venue very much his domain.
With an average of almost 106, 15 maximums and a ‘Big Fish’ 170 checkout, this was one of the great final performances from an individual.
Over longer formats, no one currently comes close to the Manchester United fan.
His relentless scoring suffocates opponents, allowing him to capitalise as he did here against Van Veen.
For his beaten opponent, the 23-year-old Dutchman can be proud of his campaign – having beaten former champions Humphries and Anderson en route to the final.
Still, Van Veen is the new world No 3 despite falling just short in his quest to follow in the footsteps of countrymen Raymond van Barneveld and Michael van Gerwen by winning the World Championship.
But his performance over the course of the competition has proved he will operate at the top of the sport alongside Littler for many years.
It should be no surprise that these two contested the youngest-ever final at the World Championship as the pair met in the World Youth Championship two years ago, with Littler’s victory kickstarting his journey to the top of the sport, where he looks set to finish for some time.
Luke Littler pays tribute to Sina Ghama and Latif Ayodele
Littler paid tribute to Anthony Joshua’s friends, Sina Ghama and Latif Ayodele, who were killed in a car crash earlier this week in Nigeria, before recreating the former heavyweight champion’s famous catchphrase.
He said on stage: ‘It feels amazing. I think I’m a bit late, but I’ve been wanting to say this.
‘Obviously everyone knows what happened with Anthony Joshua and his guys and his team. Rest in peace to his friends.
‘But just like AJ said, the first time was so nice, I had to do it twice.’
Littler’s friend and king of the jungle Angry Ginge was in attendance and Littler has a new job for him – tackling the wasp that has plagued players and the crowd throughout the tournament.
‘I’ll get Angry Ginge to sort it,’ he laughed. ‘I still, I say every year, someone has to bring that wasp out. They don’t just come out of nowhere. No chance.’
Gian van Veen rues his World Darts Championship display
Van Veen was disappointed he was unable to give Littler a real game.
‘I would have liked to lift the title, but I would have liked more to give Luke a game, and that’s what I didn’t do.
‘I lost too many legs while I wasn’t involved and I missed too many chances. But you know, looking back at this tournament, I’m very proud for getting even to the final.’
