Luke Littler

**Luke Littler** (born 21 January 2007) is a English professional darts player who currently plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is the WDF Europe Cup and WDF Europe Cup Youth gold medalist. He is the current PDC World Youth Champion and two-time JDC World Darts Champion. He is the youngest player to have won a match in the WDF World Darts Championship and PDC World Darts Championship.

## Career

Littler caused a stir at a young age with high averages and thus also raked in youth titles early on. In 2019, he won the England Youth Grand Prix and the Isle of Man Masters youth competition, where he was able to defend his title in 2020. The 2020 JDC tour featured two titles from Littler, who is also signed to partners program "Elite1" organised by Target. Littler won the youth title at the England Open in September 2021 and finished second in the British Pentathlon. In November 2021, Littler won his first seniors title at the Irish Open defeating Barry Copeland by 6–2 in legs, and thus qualified for the 2022 WDF World Darts Championship at the age of 14. At the end of November, during the JDC MVG Masters tournament, he hit a nine-dart finish.

Littler won the JDC Super 16 at the end of January 2022, beating Eleanor Cairns in the final match. In March 2022, he won the youth competition at the Isle Of Man Open and advanced to the finals of the Isle of Man Classic. At the 2022 WDF World Darts Championship, Littler start as a seeded player from second round and won his first match against Ben Hazel by 3–2 in sets. He was then beaten 0–3 in sets by Richard Veenstra.

During the Welsh Open warm-up tournament he hit a 121.86 average in one of his matches. A day later, he won another adult tournament in his career. In June 2022, he also won the Romanian Classic, beating Jelle Klaasen in the final by 5–1 in legs. At the 2022 WDF Europe Cup Youth, he won the gold medal in three men's competitions (singles, team and overall). His outstanding achievement was defeating Archie Self in the finals of the singles competition by 6–1 in legs. In the pair competition, together with Archie Self, lost in the semi-finals by 1–4 in legs to Thomas Banks, and Charlie Manby.

At the end of September 2022, he was selected by the national federation to participate in the 2022 WDF Europe Cup. On the second day of the tournament, he advanced to the quarter-finals of the pairs competition where he played together with James Hurrell. They lost to Sam Cankett and Nick Kenny from Wales by 1–4 in legs. On the third day of the tournament, he advanced to the quarter-finals of the singles competition, lost to Andy Baetens by 4–5 in legs. In the team competition, he won the gold medal. In the points classification, as a representative of England, he also contributed to won a gold medal. Littler won the JDC World Darts Championship at the end of December 2022, beating Harry Gregory by 5–0 in legs.

In 2023, Littler won fourth events of the MODUS Super Series. In the final matches he beat Richard North, Jacob Taylor, Andy Baetens and Colin Osborne. In November 2023, Littler beat Gian van Veen in the 2023 PDC World Youth Championship final match, by 6–4 in legs. Littler made his debut at the 2024 PDC World Darts Championship, where he whitewashed former BDO World Champion Christian Kist in the first round. He also broke two records, one for the highest average for a debutant at the World Darts Championship with a 106.12 and the other for being the youngest winner. Littler won the JDC World Darts Championship at the end of December 2023, beating Álmos Kovács by 5–2 in legs.

## World Championship results

### WDF

* 2022: Third round (lost to Richard Veenstra 0–3) (sets)

## References

1. ↑ Littler, 15, becomes youngest player to win senior game at WDF World Darts Championship. insidethegames.biz.
2. ↑ 14-year-old Luke Littler produces stunning nine-dart finish at JDC MVG Masters. dartsnews.com.
3. ↑ Teenage star Littler wins JDC Super 16 final. Professional Darts Corporation.
4. ↑ Hurrell, Littler, Hedman and Greaves move into finals at Isle of Man Classic. dartsnews.com.
5. ↑ 14-year-old Luke Littler qualifies for Lakeside after WDF Irish Open win. dartsnews.com.
6. ↑ Richard Veenstra sets new record Lakeside average at the WDF World Championship. live-darts.com.
7. ↑ Littler hits incredible 121.86 average during WDF Welsh Open weekend. dartsnews.com.
8. ↑ WDF Europe Cup Youth Results. World Darts Federation.
9. ↑ WDF Europe Cup Men Pairs. World Darts Federation.
10. ↑ WDF Europe Cup Men Singles. World Darts Federation.
11. ↑ WDF Europe Cup Men Teams. World Darts Federation.
12. ↑ 16-year-old Luke Littler destroys former darts world champion Christian Kist 3-0 on Ally Pally debut (en) (2023-12-20).
13. ↑ Sensational 16-year-old Luke Littler averages 106.12 with seven 180s in astonishing victory (en) (2023-12-20).