Luke Littler has produced one of the most dominant performances in world darts championship final history to etch his name alongside the sport’s best ever by winning back-to-back world titles.
The 18-year-old has beaten Dutchman Gian van Veen 7-1 with a 106.02 average which sees him retain the coveted SidWaddell trophy and the £1 million ($2.3m) prize, the biggest in darts’ history.
“It feels amazing,” Littler told Sky Sports as the crowd at Alexandra Palace, London, roared.
“The prize money is life-changing. Even for this tournament, the first round was doubled. This win has increased that gap from Luke Humphries and I’m in the clear for No 1.
“The first time was so nice, I had to do it twice.”
Littler becomes just the fourth back-to-back Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) champion alongside Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis and Gary Anderson. He is also the first since Anderson completed the feat in 2016.
His second victory in only his third appearance at the London tournament means that only Taylor, with 14, and Michael van Gerwen, on three, have more PDC world titles than Littler.
He also joins just Taylor, John Part, Lewis, Anderson, van Gerwen and Peter Wright in having won the biggest prize in all of darts on more than one occasion.
What promised to be a tight contest between two of the sports’ young stars proved anything but as the Englishman was relentless, barely giving his opponent a chance after losing the opening set.
Littler threw 16 180s, 19 140s, a 46% success rate on the doubles, with four ton-plus finishes including a 170 and a 147 checkout to seal the win.
Luke Littler celebrates his 170 finish. Photo / PDC
Both players missed multiple darts to claim the opening set, before van Veen pinged double four to hold throw. The Dutchman then missed a shot at double eight to claim the second, but missed and Littler capitalised by taking the set and he didn’t look back.
There were a couple of edgy moments in the contest from blood on the board and a wasp on the oche, but nothing seemed to rattle Littler.
The result caps off a stunning 12 months for Littler after he won his first world title. He’s since gone on to capture the UK Open, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix and Grand Slam along with success at the Australian and New Zealand Darts Masters.
While it was a disappointing result for van Veen, he can hold his head high after a breakthrough tournament where he has risen to No 3 in the world, which will likely see him appear in Auckland later this year.
His new ranking means he’s now the top-ranked Dutch player in the world, surpassing van Gerwen who had held the title since 2012.
“He played phenomenal,” van Veen told Sky Sport. “He put me under pressure every leg, every set, and I missed too many chances today to make it a game.
“He’s a fantastic player which is why he’s world number one by a margin now. That’s why he’s back-to-back world champion.”
Ben Francis is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers breaking sports news.
