Luke Littler is the youngest World Darts champion ever – how did he get here?

Published

6 months ago

January 4, 2025

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Seventeen-year-old Luke Littler swept aside darting great Michael van Gerwen last night to become the youngest World Darts champion ever.

The teenage sensation made it look easy in the final at Alexandra Palace, beating the three-time world champion 7-3.

To add insult to injury, he also stole the Dutchman’s record as youngest ever world champ with seven years to spare – van Gerwen was 24 when he first won it.

The extraordinary victory comes off the back of an equally impressive 12 months for Littler which saw him win 10 trophies in his first pro season.

The teen has fast become one of the sport’s biggest names and is now world number two – but how did he get here?

Here’s everything you need to know about the darting prodigy and his meteoric rise – from learning to play in nappies as a toddler to building new rivalries.

Playing darts at 18 months old

He may only be a teenager but Littler, from Warrington, Cheshire, has been practising his throwing for some time.

He previously told Sky News: “There’s a video on YouTube of me when I was 18 months in a nappy listening to Raymond van Barneveld’s music, listening to Phil Taylor’s music, doing their celebrations.

“That’s when it started – 18 months and in a nappy on a magnetic board.

“[Aged] four or five I was on a proper board but it was a bit low and then about seven to eight, that’s when I started playing [at] the proper height and the proper length. So it’s just been all darts in my life so far.”

Talent is one thing, but having the right support system to nurture it is just as important.

The teen clearly thinks a lot of his parents, who he said were “proud” of what he had achieved.

“They just can’t believe [it], I can’t believe it myself,” he told Sky News during the world championships last year.

“But it’s just good to have a set of parents who are supportive and that are always there for me and I’ve got a good management team around me. So it’s just the best group of people that can be around me, to be honest.”

For coaches and friends who watched Littler play at St Helens Darts Academy in his early years, his rapid rise in the professional game is no surprise.

“He was averaging stupid averages that you should be [getting at] like 16 to 20 years old, but he was doing it at 10,” his former coach Karl Holden told Sky News.

“He was special then,” he added.

Eleanor Cairns, a fellow darts player who has known the 17-year-old for five years, told Sky News Littler has got a “natural throw” and showed natural talent “from the start”.

But she believes his success comes down to far more than just being gifted.

“I know he does a lot of practice for the competitions,” Ms Cairns said.

“Luke never really stops playing darts throughout the week either, so he’s definitely always throwing. It does take a lot, but I know he’s worked hard for it.”

His career so far

It was his remarkable run to the 2023/24 world championship final which made Littler a household name, but his talent had been evident for some time.

He won the England Youth Grand Prix in 2019, became England Youth Open champion in 2021 and won his first senior title at the Irish Open later that year.

He won the Welsh Open in 2022 and in 2023 notched further senior titles at the Isle of Man Classic, Gibraltar Open, British Open and British Classic.

He was also back-to-back JDC World Champion and reigning World Youth Champion.

Avid darts fans already knew of the rising star, but his unprecedented run in the 2023/24 World Darts Championship aged just 16 made him an instant celebrity.

The teenager beat three former world champions on his journey to the final – defeating Christian Kist in his opening game before overcoming one of his heroes, the five-time world champion and darts legend Raymond van Barneveld, to reach the quarter-finals.

Brendan Dolan was next, then he defeated the 2018 champion Rob Cross in the semi-final to earn his place in a historic final against then world number one Luke Humphries.

A valiant performance saw the then 16-year-old produce more of the spectacular darts that inspired his run to the final as he moved into a 4-2 lead, but Humphries fought back to win 7-4.

The loss did nothing to stunt Littler’s progress – and the experience would prove pivotal a year later.

2024 saw record-breaking success for Littler on the senior stage, seeing him become just the fourth player ever to win 10 trophies in a season, including the Premier League, Grand Slam and World Series of Darts Finals.

Even he cannot quite believe how much he has achieved in his debut year, crediting his early victory at the Bahrain Masters, in which he hit a nine-darter, with spurring him on.

“I just wanted to win a few Pro Tours, but obviously winning Bahrain, the World Series, and then it was just European Tours, Pro Tours, and just all the titles I’ve picked up. It just goes to show how well I’ve been playing,” he told Sky Sports News at the end of November.

“It was good to win Bahrain, the first tournament of 2024. I’ve put my hands on it and I just had to build from it there and that’s what I’ve done.”

It was clear well before the world championships began that he wasn’t settling for 10.

“I could potentially end the year on 11, couldn’t I? But yeah, I’ve set another record”, Littler said.

“I’ve put my name into the other players who have won 10 titles this year. But like I said, potentially it could be 11 by next year and I’ll try and break the record.

“I got the runner-up on my first go, but yeah, I’d like to win it… I think I can win it.”

Awards, fans and fame

Littler’s celebrity status has risen with every dart he’s thrown.

His Instagram account went from 4,000 followers at the start of last year’s tournament to over 450,000 by the final. Now it’s at 1.6 million.

Not only that – the teenager’s prize earnings have now topped £1.5m after yesterday’s win bagged him £500,000.

His light-hearted interviews and extraordinary performances led to Littler being named BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year 2024 last month – he was beaten to the senior award by 800m runner Keely Hodgkinson.

Posting on X, Littler called the public’s recognition a “huge honour”.

“Support this year has been amazing and [I] want to say thank you to everyone who voted and sent messages,” he said.

The teenager admitted his life has drastically changed as a result of his success.

This time last year, he told Sky Sports his life had already changed.

“I’m doing interviews with Sky Sports. Usually I am up in the morning watching Sky Sports News. Now I am on the news. It’s all incredible. I am taking it all in my stride,” said Littler.

Now, he said it’s at a completely different level.

Asked if he can walk down the street or go to the shop without being bothered, he laughed and told Sky Sports News: “Not really. Because it’s only a small town and you get spotted everywhere. But I don’t mind taking pictures and seeing all the fans.”

Growing rivalry with van Gerwen

The 2025 final was the 13th match-up between the two biggest faces in darts, having won six each in various competitions in 2024.

The head-to-head looked even, but there was a stark contrast between the pair’s past 12 months; while Littler won 10 titles, his Dutch counterpart failed to win a televised tournament in a calendar year for the first time since 2011.

Still, an experienced pro like 35-year-old van Gerwen couldn’t be underestimated, and he was going into the final looking as much a threat as ever, having thrashed his semi-final opponent Chris Dobey 6-1.

He wasn’t just after his fourth world title – he was also looking to defend his record as youngest ever winner.

The 17-year-old hadn’t shied away from what breaking that record would mean.

“Well, I know Michael van Gerwen holds the youngest at 24, so I’ve got seven years,” Littler told Sky Sports News before the tournament.

“I could just slouch about for six years and then just win it when I’m 24.

“But no, I’d like to obviously win it before Michael won it. It’d mean everything. So to be the youngest, that’s definitely what I’d be looking for.”

Road to the 2024/25 final

After being exempt from the first round due to being seeded, Littler started the Alexandra Palace tournament with a surprisingly tough bout against Ryan Meikle in round two, recovering from a slow start to dominate the closing stages of the contest, wrapping up a 3-1 victory.

Next up was Ian White in round three, who gave the teenager another scare, forcing a tight opening set before winning the second. But Littler kept a cool head to eventually see his opponent off with a 4-1 win.

Round four saw a 4-3 thriller between Littler and Ryan Joyce, where the favourite never trailed, but was pushed to the limit by his unseeded opponent as he was repeatedly pegged back.

Littler then hit form, hitting 15 maximums against Nathan Aspinall in a 5-2 quarter-final win before thrashing 39-year-old Stephen Bunting 6 sets to 1 to set up the dream van Gerwen finale.

Littler blows van Gerwen away

What looked like a contest too close to call quickly became something of a whitewash.

Littler had the Ally Pally crowd firmly on his side and, with their support, got off to a blistering start, winning six out of the first seven legs and the second set with a mind-blowing 115.62 average to race into a 2-0 lead.

Before van Gerwen knew it the teenager was four sets up, with 12 legs won compared to just three for van Gerwen.

He was assured all night, repeatedly knocking in double 10 and double-top to heap pressure on the three-time champion.

The Dutchman staged a mini revival, snatching the fifth set, but Littler kept his cool to prevent his opponent from halving the deficit, swiftly restoring his four-set lead and making it 5-1.

Van Gerwen won the next set to make it 5-2, but Littler came back with a vengeance to breeze through the eighth set to put himself a set away from glory.

Littler’s esteemed rival hit back once again and broke the throw to put the score at 6-3, threatening a late surge.

With pressure high and the Ally Pally crowd at fever pitch, Littler showed his steel as the biggest moment of his career arrived and after picking up the first two legs of the 10th set, he took out two bullseyes and then, on his next visit, D16 to officially become the youngest ever world champion.

‘I can’t believe it!’

After showing composure far beyond his years throughout the night, Littler was instantly brought to tears in front of the screaming Ally Pally crowd.

“I can’t believe it! Honestly, I can’t believe it,” Littler said.

“We both played so well. I said in my interviews, I needed to get off to a quick start and that’s what I did.

“Michael was behind me the whole game. Those cover shots, when he would hit two trebles and I had to come back with two or three, he was right behind me the whole way through.

“Everyone dreams of lifting this trophy but you have to get through a tough field.”

Van Gerwen was quick to congratulate Littler, calling him a “star”, though he was critical of his own performance, saying he didn’t do himself justice in the contest or play to the level he did in the rest of the tournament.

“Every moment he got to hurt me, he did,” he added.

“I sometimes say every 17 years a star gets born and he’s one of them.

“Don’t get me wrong, I had a lovely tournament. I’ve been battling my own game but that’s how it was. You have to take it on the chin and take it as a champion.

“It hurts but that’s how it should be. It is what it is.”

What next for the Nuke?

Littler will not practice seriously for a week, but he’ll have barely any time to rest on his laurels; he’ll defend his Bahrain Darts Masters title in mid-January before going on to defend his Premier League crown in February.

After his world championship win, Sky Sports Darts’ Mark Webster analysed the challenges facing Littler going into the 2025 season.

“Littler came here under pressure and he wasn’t the defending champion. He had a bullseye on him and he certainly has a bullseye on him now,” he said.

“They are going to have to bring their A-game and more because we have seen what he has just done to Michael van Gerwen and what he has done throughout this tournament.

“He is not even two years into his career, the challenge now is for him to go and win other majors he hasn’t won and then defend his title next year.

“There is always something else to achieve. He will never think he has completed anything. You have just got to applaud his dedication, he has been dedicated for a long, long time.”

UK

Why do so many from around the world try to cross the English Channel?

Published

1 hour ago

July 9, 2025

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Why do so many from around the world try to cross the English Channel?

While the politicians talk, so many people come from around the world to try to get across the Channel on small boats. But why?

Why make such a perilous crossing to try to get to a country that seems to be getting increasingly hostile to asylum seekers?

As the British and French leaders meet, with small boats at the forefront of their agenda, we came to northern France to get some answers.

It is not a new question, but it is peppered with fresh relevance.

Over the course of a morning spent around a migrant camp in Dunkirk, we meet migrants from Gaza, Iraq, Eritrea, South Sudan, Sri Lanka and beyond.

Some are fearful, waving us away; some are happy to talk. Very few are comfortable to be filmed.

All but one man – who says he’s come to the wrong place and actually wants to claim asylum in Paris – are intent on reaching Britain.

They see the calm seas, feel the light winds – perfect conditions for small boat crossings.

John has come here from South Sudan. He tells me he’s now 18 years old. He left his war-torn home nation just before his 16th birthday. He feels that reaching Britain is his destiny.

“England is my dream country,” he says. “It has been my dream since I was at school. It’s the country that colonised us and when I get there, I will feel like I am home.

“In England, they can give me an opportunity to succeed or to do whatever I need to do in my life. I feel like I am an English child, who was born in Africa.”

He says he would like to make a career in England, either as a journalist or in human resources, and, like many others we meet, is at pains to insist he will work hard.

The boat crossing is waved away as little more than an inconvenience – a trifle compared with the previous hardships of his journey towards Britain.

We meet a group of men who have all travelled from Gaza, intent on starting new lives in Britain and then bringing their families over to join them.

One man, who left Gaza two years ago, tells me that his son has since been shot in the leg “but there is no hospital for him to go to”.

Next to him, a man called Abdullah says he entered Europe through Greece and stayed there for months on end, but was told the Greek authorities would never allow him to bring over his family.

Britain, he thinks, will be more accommodating. “Gaza is being destroyed – we need help,” he says.

A man from Eritrea tells us he is escaping a failing country and has friends in Britain – he plans to become a bicycle courier in either London or Manchester.

He can’t stay in France, he says, because he doesn’t speak French. The English language is presented as a huge draw for many of the people we talk to, just as it had been during similar conversations over the course of many years.

I ask many of these people why they don’t want to stay in France, or another safe European country.

Some repeat that they cannot speak the language and feel ostracised. Another says that he tried, and failed, to get a residency permit in both France and Belgium.

But this is also, clearly, a flawed survey. Last year, five times as many people sought asylum in France as in Britain.

And French critics have long insisted that Britain, a country without a European-style ID card system, makes itself attractive to migrants who can “disappear”.

A young man from Iraq, with absolutely perfect English, comes for a chat. He oozes confidence and a certain amount of mischief.

It has taken him only seven days to get from Iraq to Dunkirk; when I ask how he has made the trip so quickly, he shrugs. “Money talks”.

He looks around him. “Let me tell you – all of these people you see around you will be getting to Britain and the first job they get will be in the black market, so they won’t be paying any tax.

“Back in the day in Britain, they used to welcome immigrants very well, but these days I don’t think they want to, because there’s too many of them coming by boat. Every day it’s about seven or 800 people. That’s too many people.”

“But,” I ask, “if those people are a problem – then what makes you different? Aren’t you a problem too?”

He shakes his head emphatically. “I know that I’m a very good guy. And I won’t be a problem. I’ll only stay in Britain for a few years and then I’ll leave again.”

A man from Sri Lanka says he “will feel safe” when he gets to Britain; a tall, smiling man from Ethiopia echoes the sentiment: “We are not safe in our home country so we have come all this way,” he says. “We want to work, to be part of Britain.”

Emmanuel is another from South Sudan – thoughtful and eloquent. He left his country five years ago – “at the start of COVID” – and has not seen his children in all that time. His aim is to start a new life in Britain, and then to bring his family to join him.

He is a trained electrical engineer, but says he could also work as a lorry driver. He is adamant that Britain has a responsibility to the people of its former colony.

“The British came to my country – colonising, killing, raping,” he said. “And we didn’t complain. We let it happen.

“I am not the problem. I won’t fight anyone; I want to work. And if I break the laws – if any immigrant breaks the laws – then fine, deport them.

“I know it won’t be easy – some people won’t like me, some people will. But England is my dream.”

UK

UK and France have ‘shared responsibility’ to tackle illegal migration, Emmanuel Macron says

Published

6 hours ago

July 9, 2025

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UK and France have 'shared responsibility' to tackle illegal migration, Emmanuel Macron says

Emmanuel Macron has said the UK and France have a “shared responsibility” to tackle the “burden” of illegal migration, as he urged co-operation between London and Paris ahead of a crunch summit later this week.

Addressing parliament in the Palace of Westminster on Tuesday, the French president said the UK-France summit would bring “cooperation and tangible results” regarding the small boats crisis in the Channel.

Politics latest: Lord Norman Tebbit dies, aged 94

Mr Macron – who is the first European leader to make a state visit to the UK since Brexit – told the audience that while migrants’ “hope for a better life elsewhere is legitimate”, “we cannot allow our countries’ rules for taking in people to be flouted and criminal networks to cynically exploit the hopes of so many individuals with so little respect for human life”.

“France and the UK have a shared responsibility to address irregular migration with humanity, solidarity and fairness,” he added.

Looking ahead to the UK-France summit on Thursday, he promised the “best ever cooperation” between France and the UK “to fix today what is a burden for our two countries”.

Sir Keir Starmer will hope to reach a deal with his French counterpart on a “one in, one out” migrant returns deal at the key summit on Thursday.

King Charles also addressed the delegations at a state banquet in Windsor Castle on Tuesday evening, saying the summit would “deepen our alliance and broaden our partnerships still further”.

Sitting next to President Macron, the monarch said: “Our armed forces will cooperate even more closely across the world, including to support Ukraine as we join together in leading a coalition of the willing in defence of liberty and freedom from oppression. In other words, in defence of our shared values.”

In April, British officials confirmed a pilot scheme was being considered to deport migrants who cross the English Channel in exchange for the UK accepting asylum seekers in France with legitimate claims.

The two countries have engaged in talks about a one-for-one swap, enabling undocumented asylum seekers who have reached the UK by small boat to be returned to France.

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Britain would then receive migrants from France who would have a right to be in the UK, like those who already have family settled here.

The small boats crisis is a pressing issue for the prime minister, given that more than 20,000 migrants crossed the English Channel to the UK in the first six months of this year – a rise of almost 50% on the number crossing in 2024.

Elsewhere in his speech, the French president addressed Brexit, and said the UK could not “stay on the sidelines” despite its departure from the European Union.

He said European countries had to break away from economic dependence on the US and China.

“Our two countries are among the oldest sovereign nations in Europe, and sovereignty means a lot to both of us, and everything I referred to was about sovereignty, deciding for ourselves, choosing our technologies, our economy, deciding our diplomacy, and deciding the content we want to share and the ideas we want to share, and the controversies we want to share.

“Even though it is not part of the European Union, the United Kingdom cannot stay on the sidelines because defence and security, competitiveness, democracy – the very core of our identity – are connected across Europe as a continent.”

UK

In pictures: Princess of Wales, Elton John and Mick Jagger at King’s state banquet for Macron

Published

6 hours ago

July 9, 2025

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In pictures: Princess of Wales, Elton John and Mick Jagger at King's state banquet for Macron

The Princess of Wales and celebrities attended the King’s star-studded state banquet on Tuesday, where Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II.

On the first day of Mr Macron’s state visit, King Charles gave a toast in French and said the three-day trip was another chance to “celebrate a deep and enduring friendship”.

“What’s possibly the most remarkable thing is the way in which the speciality of one country is part of the story of the other,” the monarch said.

“For centuries, our citizens have admired one another. We’ve made each other laugh, and we’ve imitated one another.”

After the King’s speech, Mr Macron told him France had a “real affection for your mother” Queen Elizabeth II, adding he believed the feeling was “reciprocal”.

“She was your queen,” he said. “To us, she was the Queen.”

He capped off his speech – which repeated his calls for closer relations that he made earlier in the Palace of Westminster – by saying: “In honour of the United Kingdom, of this entente amico that unites our two fraternal peoples in an unwavering alliance.

“Long live the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland! Long live France!”

The Princess of Wales also made her first appearance at a state banquet in almost two years, sitting next to the French president.

She last made an appearance at a grand royal dinner in November 2023 in honour of the South Korean president. It comes after she opened up about her “rollercoaster” cancer recovery last week.

Also in attendance were Sir Mick Jagger, frontman of The Rolling Stones, who was joined by his fiancee Melanie Hamrick, and Sir Elton John, who was accompanied by his husband David Furnish.

Meanwhile, it was announced that the Bayeux Tapestry, depicting the Norman conquest of England, will return to the UK for the first time in more than 900 years, and will feature in an exhibition from September 2026 to July 2027.

Mr Macron joked ahead of the state banquet that negotiations to bring the 11th-century artwork back to the UK took longer “than all the Brexit tests”. Talks on a loan had started as early as 2018.