Luke Littler
English darts player (born 2007)
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Luke Littler (born 21 January 2007) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is ranked world number one. Nicknamed "the Nuke", Littler has won two PDC World Championships, in 2025 and 2026, and is the youngest world champion in darts history (17 years, 347 days). He has won 12 PDC major titles—ranked third all-time—and a total of 26 PDC titles.
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Warrington, Cheshire, England
| Luke Littler MBE | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Littler in 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | The Nuke | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 21 January 2007 Warrington, Cheshire, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Darts information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Playing darts since | 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Darts | 23g Target Signature Gen 1[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Laterality | Right-handed[1][2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Walk-on music | "Greenlight" by Pitbull featuring Flo Rida and LunchMoney Lewis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Organisation (see split in darts) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BDO | 2019–2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PDC | 2023–present (Tour Card: 2024–present) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WDF | 2019–2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current world ranking | (PDC) 1  (22 March 2026)[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WDF major events – best performances | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championship | Last 16: 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Masters | Last 64: 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PDC premier events – best performances | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championship | Winner (2): 2025, 2026 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Matchplay | Winner (1): 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Grand Prix | Winner (1): 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UK Open | Winner (2): 2025, 2026 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam | Winner (2): 2024, 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| European Championship | Last 16: 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Premier League | Winner (1): 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PC Finals | Winner (1): 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Masters | Winner (1): 2026 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Series Finals | Winner (1): 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other achievements | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Born and raised in Warrington, Littler began playing darts at 18 months old and established himself on the World Darts Federation (WDF) circuit in 2022. After winning the 2023 PDC World Youth Championship and five PDC Development Tour titles, Littler made his PDC World Championship debut in 2024, aged 16; as a 66/1 outsider, he reached the final and was defeated by Luke Humphries. That year, he won three PDC major titles, including the Premier League. He defeated Michael van Gerwen to claim his maiden World Championship in 2025, when he won six of 10 majors—including the World Matchplay—and became the youngest world No. 1 at the Grand Slam. He retained his world title in 2026, defeating Gian van Veen and becoming the eighth player to win successive world titles in darts and the fourth in the PDC, and has won two further majors.
Named BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year in 2024, his rise to prominence at age 16 led to an increased public interest in darts, a phenomenon dubbed "'Littlermania" or the "Littler effect". He is a two-time PDC Player of the Year and has made four televised nine-dart finishes. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2025 Birthday Honours and was named an honorary citizen of Warrington.
Early life
Luke Littler was born on 21 January 2007 at Warrington Hospital in Warrington, Cheshire,[5][6][7][a] the son of candle shop employee Lisa Littler and taxi driver Anthony Buckley.[11][12] He has two brothers and one sister.[13] He spent the first six years of his life in nearby Runcorn before moving back to Warrington,[14][15] where he attended Padgate Academy.[16] During childhood, he underwent eye surgery to fix his strabismus.[17]
Littler began playing darts when he was 18 months old, after his father bought him a magnetic dart board from a pound shop.[18] He has claimed to have scored his first 180 at the age of six and a nine-dart finish at the age of 13.[19] When he was 10, he joined the St Helens Darts Academy and began playing in under-21 leagues.[20]
Career
Early career
In November 2021, Littler won his first seniors title at the Irish Open defeating Barry Copeland 6–2 in legs. This qualified Littler for the 2022 WDF World Darts Championship, at the age of 14.[21] At the end of November, during the JDC MVG Masters tournament, he hit a nine-dart finish.[22][23]
Littler won the JDC Super 16 in Milton Keynes at the end of January 2022, beating Eleanor Cairns in the final.[24] 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.[25] At the 2022 WDF World Darts Championship, Littler started as a seeded player from the second round and won his first match against Ben Hazel 3–2 in sets, becoming the youngest player to win a match at a senior darts world championship.[26][27][28] He was then beaten 3–0 in sets by Richard Veenstra, who set a record three-dart average for a World Championship match at the Lakeside.[29]
Littler won the JDC World Darts Championship in London at the end of December 2022, beating Harry Gregory 5–0 in legs.[30][31]
2023: World youth champion
Littler continued to play on the World Darts Federation circuit in 2023. He won the British Classic, whitewashing Carl Wilkinson 5–0 in the final.[32] On the same weekend, he also won the British Open, defeating Peter Jacques 5–2 in the final.[33][34]
Littler made his debut at a PDC major event at the 2023 UK Open, qualifying for the tournament via an amateur qualifying event organised by Rileys.[35] He reached the fourth round alongside fellow Rileys qualifier Thomas Banks, where he lost to eventual semi-finalist Adam Gawlas 10–8.[36][37]
Also in 2023, Littler won the third and fourth seasons of the MODUS Super Series.[38][39][40]
Littler competed in the 2023 PDC Development Tour series. He won five events and finished second on the 2023 Development Tour Order of Merit behind Gian van Veen.[41][42]
On 26 November, Littler beat Gian van Veen 6–4 in the 2023 PDC World Youth Championship final.[43][42] The next month, he retained his JDC World Darts Championship title, defeating Álmos Kovács 5–3 in the final.[44]
2024: Breakthrough year
Littler made his first PDC World Championship appearance at the 2024 World Championship, qualifying as a result of his placement on the 2023 PDC Development Tour Order of Merit.[45] He started off as an outsider with 66/1 odds.[46] Littler reached the final by defeating former world champion Rob Cross 6–2 in the semi-finals.[47] At 16 years and 347 days old, this made him the youngest player to reach the PDC World Championship final, beating the record previously held by 2008 finalist Kirk Shepherd.[48] Littler faced Luke Humphries in the final on 3 January 2024, taking a 4–2 lead before eventually losing to Humphries 7–4.[49][50] He earned £200,000 in prize money for his runner-up finish and entered the world's top 32 on the PDC Order of Merit, having started the tournament as the world number 164.[8] Off the back of his World Championship run, it was announced that Littler would take part in the PDC's 2024 World Series of Darts and 2024 Premier League Darts.[51][52]
Littler made his World Series debut at the Bahrain Darts Masters.[53] He hit his first televised nine-dart finish in his quarter-final win against Nathan Aspinall, becoming the youngest player to do so.[54][55] He won 8–5 against Michael van Gerwen in the final to capture his first PDC senior title.[56] Competing in the Premier League for the first time, he ended the league phase with four nightly wins to top the table.[57][58] Littler was matched up against fourth-placed Michael Smith in the semi-finals of the play-offs,[58] winning 10–5 to progress to the Premier League final. After hitting a nine-darter in the 11th leg of the match, he defeated Luke Humphries 11–7 to win his first major title, becoming the youngest player to win a PDC major tournament.[59][60]
As he had gained a PDC Tour Card, Littler played in his first Players Championship series, winning three titles.[61][62][63] Littler also won two titles on the European Tour, hitting a nine-dart finish in his victory at the Belgian Darts Open before adding the Austrian Darts Open title.[64][65] He won his second World Series title at the Poland Darts Masters by beating Rob Cross 8–3 in the final,[66] before clinching the World Series Finals in September, defeating Michael Smith 11–4 in the final.[67] In November, he defeated Martin Lukeman 16–3 in the Grand Slam of Darts final to secure his first ranking major title and enter the top five in the world on the PDC Order of Merit.[68] Later that month, he faced Luke Humphries in the pair's third major final of the year at the Players Championship Finals, with Littler losing 11–7.[69][70]
2025: World champion and world number one
Littler entered the second round of the 2025 World Championship as the fourth seed,[71] where he defeated Ryan Meikle 3–1 in sets. He broke the record for the highest set average in a World Championship match by averaging 140.91 in the fourth and final set.[72][73] Littler reached the final by defeating Meikle, Ian White, Ryan Joyce, Nathan Aspinall and Stephen Bunting.[74] In the final on 3 January 2025, he defeated three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen 7–3 in sets. Aged 17 years and 347 days,[75] Littler became the youngest world champion in darts history, breaking Jelle Klaasen's record from when he won the 2006 BDO World Championship at age 21.[76] He was also seven years younger than Van Gerwen was in 2014, when he became the then-youngest PDC world champion at age 24.[74][77] Littler's win saw him earn the £500,000 top prize and surpass Van Gerwen on the PDC Order of Merit to become the world number two, behind Luke Humphries.[78]
In March, Littler won the UK Open for the first time, defeating James Wade 11–2 in the final.[79] He retained his Belgian Darts Open title to win his third European Tour title.[80] On night seven of the 2025 Premier League, Littler hit his third televised nine-dart finish in the final against Michael van Gerwen before winning the match 6–4.[81] He became the first player to record six nightly wins in a single Premier League season after his victory on night 16 and finished the league stage on 45 points – the highest amount of points earned in a Premier League season.[82] On Finals Night on 29 May, he defeated Gerwyn Price 10–7 in the semi-finals and progressed to the final where he played Luke Humphries in a rematch of the 2024 final. However, Littler was unable to defend his title as he lost 11–8 to Humphries.[83]
At the World Matchplay, Littler hit a nine-dart finish in his semi-final match against Josh Rock.[84] In a repeat of their UK Open meeting, Littler defeated James Wade 18–13 in the final to win the World Matchplay for the first time. He also became the fifth player to complete the so-called PDC Triple Crown by winning the World Matchplay, the World Championship and the Premier League.[85] He followed this victory by winning back-to-back World Series titles in Australia and New Zealand,[86][87] as well as a second European Tour title of the year at the Flanders Darts Trophy.[88] At the World Grand Prix, Littler won his seventh PDC major title by defeating Luke Humphries 6–1 in the final.[89] He won his sole Players Championship title of the year at Players Championship 32, beating Dennie Olde Kalter 8–2 in the final.[90]
In November, Littler retained the Grand Slam by defeating Luke Humphries 16–11 in the final. By reaching the final of the tournament, Littler overtook Humphries on the PDC Order of Merit and became the new world number one, the youngest player to achieve the feat.[91] He won his sixth major title of the year at the Players Championship Finals with an 11–8 win against Nathan Aspinall.[92]
2026: Second world title
At the 2026 World Championship, Littler won his first three matches without losing a set.[93] Following a 4–2 victory against Rob Cross in the fourth round,[94] he defeated Krzysztof Ratajski 5–0 and Ryan Searle 6–1 to reach his third consecutive World Championship final.[95][96] In the final, Littler beat Gian van Veen 7–1 to become the fourth player in history (following Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis and Gary Anderson) to win back-to-back PDC World Championship titles.[97] In his victory, Littler became the first player to win the new, increased £1 million fee for the tournament winner.[98]
Littler won the inaugural Saudi Arabia Darts Masters by defeating Michael van Gerwen 8–5 in the final.[99] He claimed a 6–5 win over Luke Humphries to win the World Masters for the first time, tying James Wade for the third-most major titles in PDC history.[100] He won his fifth European Tour title at the inaugural Poland Darts Open with an 8–4 victory against Gian van Veen in the final.[101] At the UK Open, in a repeat of the 2025 final, Littler defeated James Wade 11–7 to retain his title.[102]
Playing style
Littler has been noted for his heavy scoring during matches, frequently hitting the maximum score of 180.[103] Using darts manufactured by Target with characteristically long 45mm points,[104] Littler plays at a quick pace[103] and is known for his efficiency in checking out on the double 10 segment.[105][106][107]
Sponsorships and management
In February 2024, Littler signed a deal with fashion brand BoohooMAN to allow him to help promote the Motor Neurone Disease Association.[108] He has also been sponsored by Xbox and KP Nuts.[109][110]
Littler has been sponsored by darts manufacturer Target Darts since he was aged 12.[111] In February 2024, he signed a multi-year professional contract with Target following his first world championship.[112] In October 2025, Littler announced he was now being managed by Target, in addition to the sponsorship agreement, having previously being managed by ZXF Sports Management since 2020.[113][114][115]
In January 2026, following his second world championship win, Littler further extended his relationship and sponsorship with Target Darts, signing a new 10-year deal reported reported as being worth up to £20 million.[116] The agreement is said to cover a range of Littler-branded products and merchandise.[98]
In popular culture
Impact on darts
"Darts has gone crazy. You wouldn't believe the difference since young Luke came along."
Following Littler's unexpected run to the final at the 2024 PDC World Championship, an unprecedented number of new fans began to both play and watch darts,[111][118][119][120] and a record high of 3.7 million viewers watched the 2024 world final.[121][122] The president of the Professional Darts Corporation, Barry Hearn, attributed this phenomenon to Littler's success and described it as "Littlermania",[123] while others have dubbed it the "[Luke] Littler effect".[124][125][126]
Littler was named BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year in 2024, becoming the first darts player to receive the award.[127] He also finished as runner-up for BBC Sports Personality of the Year behind 2024 Summer Olympics gold medalist Keely Hodgkinson.[128] Google revealed that he was the United Kingdom's most searched athlete in 2024, while also placing third in the most searched people category ahead of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and King Charles III.[129][130] In June 2025, Littler was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2025 Birthday Honours for services to darts.[131][132]
Media appearances
In March 2024, he made an appearance on the 232nd episode of The Jonathan Ross Show alongside Rob Beckett, Millie Bobby Brown and Raye.[133] He was involved in a darts challenge where he played against Beckett, Brown, and Raye in a three-on-one scoring challenge.[134] The three scored a total of 83, while Littler hit a score of 140.[135] That same month, he made an appearance on Fantasy Football League alongside Stuart Broad.[136][137] He has appeared on the darts-themed game show Bullseye on two occasions.[138][139]
Littler has paraded his PDC World Championship trophy at Old Trafford following his victories in 2025 and 2026.[140][141] The Warrington Wolves honoured Littler by renaming their stadium, the Halliwell Jones Stadium, to the Luke Littler Stadium for one night only on 21 February 2025, the date of their opening home match of the 2025 Super League season against the Catalans Dragons.[142]
Personal life
Littler is a supporter of football club Manchester United and rugby league club the Warrington Wolves.[143] Following his victory over Raymond van Barneveld in the last 16 of the 2024 World Championship, footballer James Maddison invited him to watch Tottenham Hotspur play AFC Bournemouth in a Premier League match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.[144][145]
Littler is friends with Twitch streamer and YouTuber Morgan Burtwistle, better known as Angryginge. Littler has been seen in many livestreams and videos on Burtwistle's channel, where he plays football and EA Sports FC.[146] On 7 February 2025, Littler played Burtwistle on livestream in a game of darts, where he won against Burtwistle, 3–2.[147]
In January 2024, Littler revealed on BBC Radio 1 that he was inspired to choose "Greenlight" by Pitbull featuring Flo Rida and LunchMoney Lewis as his walk-on song after he and his father attended the 2017 WWE event WrestleMania 33, which featured "Greenlight" as its theme song.[148] WWE later invited Littler to their upcoming house show at the O2 Arena in April, which he accepted,[149] and John Cena posted an uncaptioned picture of Littler on his Instagram account after Littler admitted to being a fan.[150][151] Later that year, he was given a tour of WWE's headquarters Titan Towers, along with Peter Wright by William Regal, ahead of the 2024 US Darts Masters. In addition he also received a personal video message from Cody Rhodes.[152][153]
In February 2025, Littler was made an honorary citizen of his hometown Warrington by Warrington Borough Council at a ceremony at the Parr Hall to recognise his contribution to the borough and his "outstanding achievements" in the sport of darts. Littler described the accolade as "a real honour".[154]
World Championship results
WDF
- 2022: Third round (lost to Richard Veenstra 0–3) (sets)
PDC
- 2024: Runner-up (lost to Luke Humphries 4–7)
- 2025: Winner (beat Michael van Gerwen 7–3)
- 2026: Winner (beat Gian van Veen 7–1)
Career finals
PDC major finals: 16 (12 titles)
| Legend |
|---|
| World Championship (2–1) |
| World Matchplay (1–0) |
| World Grand Prix (1–0) |
| UK Open (2–0) |
| Premier League (1–1) |
| World Series Finals (1–1) |
| Grand Slam (2–0) |
| Players Championship Finals (1–1) |
| World Masters (1–0) |
PDC World Series finals: 7 (5 titles)
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score[N 1] | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 2024 | Bahrain Darts Masters |  Michael van Gerwen |
8–5 (l) | [56] |
| Runner-up | 1. | 2024 | Dutch Darts Masters | Michael van Gerwen |
6–8 (l) | [161] |
| Winner | 2. | 2024 | Poland Darts Masters |  Rob Cross |
8–3 (l) | [162] |
| Runner-up | 2. | 2024 | Australian Darts Masters |  Gerwyn Price |
1–8 (l) | [163] |
| Winner | 3. | 2025 | Australian Darts Masters |  Mike De Decker |
8–4 (l) | [164] |
| Winner | 4. | 2025 | New Zealand Darts Masters | Luke Humphries |
8–4 (l) | [165] |
| Winner | 5. | 2026 | Saudi Arabia Darts Masters | Michael van Gerwen |
8–5 (l) | [99] |
Performance timeline
Luke Littler's performance timeline is as follows:[166]
WDF
| Tournament | 2022 | 2023 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WDF Ranked major/platinum events | ||||
| World Championship | 3R | WD[N 2] | ||
| World Masters | 3R | NH | ||
PDC
| Tournament | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PDC Ranked televised events | |||||||||
| World Championship | DNQ | F | W | W | |||||
| World Masters[N 3] | DNQ | QF | W | ||||||
| UK Open | 4R | QF | W | W | |||||
| World Matchplay | DNQ | 1R | W | ||||||
| World Grand Prix | DNQ | 1R | W | ||||||
| European Championship | DNQ | 1R | 2R | ||||||
| Grand Slam | DNQ | W | W | ||||||
| Players Championship Finals | DNQ | F | W | ||||||
| PDC Non-ranked televised events | |||||||||
| Premier League | DNP | W | F | ||||||
| World Cup | DNQ | 2R | |||||||
| World Series Finals | DNP | W | F | ||||||
| World Youth Championship | W | DNP | SF | ||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||
| Season-end ranking (PDC) | 31[167] | 2[168] | 1 | ||||||
PDC Premier League Darts
| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | CAR SF |
BER F |
GLA QF |
NEW SF |
EXE SF |
BRI SF |
NOT SF |
DUB QF |
BEL W |
MAN W |
BIR F |
ROT QF |
LIV W |
ABD W |
LEE SF |
SHF SF |
LON W |
| 2025 | BEL QF |
GLA W |
DUB QF |
EXE F |
BRI W |
NOT F |
CAR W |
NEW W |
BER QF |
MAN SF |
ROT SF |
LIV QF |
BIR W |
LEE F |
ABD SF |
SHF W |
LON F |
| 2026 | NEW QF |
ANT SF |
GLA SF |
BEL QF |
CAR W |
PDC European Tour
PDC Players Championships
| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | WIG W |
WIG 2R |
LEI QF |
LEI 1R |
HIL DNP |
LEI 4R |
LEI 3R |
HIL DNP |
MIL 1R |
MIL 2R |
MIL W |
MIL 3R |
MIL DNP |
WIG W |
WIG 4R |
LEI DNP |
WIG SF |
WIG QF |
WIG 4R |
WIG 2R |
WIG 2R |
LEI DNP |
Not held | |||||||||||
| 2025 | WIG 3R |
WIG QF |
ROS DNP |
LEI SF |
LEI 2R |
HIL DNP |
LEI 3R |
LEI QF |
LEI 1R |
LEI 4R |
Did not participate | MIL 4R |
Did not participate | WIG 1R |
WIG W |
WIG DNP |
WIG 3R | |||||||||||||||||
PDC World Series of Darts
PDC Development Tour
| Performance Table Legend | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | Won the tournament | F | Finalist | SF | Semifinalist | QF | Quarterfinalist | #R RR Prel. |
Lost in # round Round-robin Preliminary round |
DQ | Disqualified |
| DNQ | Did not qualify | DNP | Did not participate | WD | Withdrew | NH | Tournament not held | NYF | Not yet founded | ||
Titles
The following is a list of titles won by Luke Littler in his career.[169][170][171]
PDC
- Majors (12)
- World Series (5)
- Pro Tour (9)
Youth titles
WDF
Source: [178]
Senior titles
Gold ranked
- 2021 Irish Open[21]
- 2022 Welsh Open
Silver ranked
- 2023:
- British Classic, British Open[179]
- Gibraltar Open[180]
- Isle of Man Classic
Bronze ranked
- 2022 Romanian Classic
Non-ranked
- 2022 British Internationals
MODUS Super Series
Awards
PDC Awards
Littler has received ten awards at the annual PDC Awards Dinner.[183][4]
Nine-dart finishes
| Date | Opponent | Tournament | Method | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 January 2024 | Nathan Aspinall |
2024 Bahrain Darts Masters | 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 | [184] |
| 23 May 2024 | Luke Humphries |
2024 Premier League Darts | 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 | [185] |
| 20 March 2025 | Michael van Gerwen |
2025 Premier League Darts | 3 x T20; 3 x T20, T20, T17, D15 | [186] |
| 26 July 2025 |  Josh Rock |
2025 World Matchplay | 3 x T20; 3 x T20, T20, T17, D15 | [187] |
Notes
Performance
