Luke Littler joins pantheon of greats at sport’s biggest pantomime
LITTLER AND LARGE: Luke Littler celebrates with the Sid Waddell trophy.
Few sports stars in history are so precocious that their place in the pantheon is assured by the time they are 18. Pelé was one. Nadia Comaneci another. Boris Becker too. Now you can add Luke Littler to that list.
Most experts had expected Gian van Veen to give Littler a proper test. He did. For three sets. Then this final became a rout. After his 7-1 dismantling, Van Veen was asked whether Littler was unstoppable. “It felt like it,” came the sad reply.
With this victory, Littler became only the fourth player to retain a PDC title, following on from Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis and Gary Anderson. But those older in the tooth will know the feat was first achieved by Eric Bristow, before darts’ great schism in 1993.
And there has certainly been a whiff of prime Bristow about Littler at these championships. The cockiness verging on arrogance. The Dorian Gray snarl, and willingness to embrace being a heel when heckled. And, most of all, the sense that victory almost is preordained.
Only twice over three weeks has Little looked ruffled. First by the crowd’s abuse in his victory over Rob Cross. And then by a wasp that whirled around him when he was 3-1 up in the final. But when it comes to the fundamentals, eye and board, dart and nerve, no other player is close.
When Bristow won his second world title 45 years ago this month in Jollees, a night club in Stoke, he won £5,500 by throwing double four to beat John Lowe in the final. At the time, Sid Waddell famously described him as Stoke Newington’s answer to Attila the Hun. So what is Littler? Warrington’s answer to Stranger Things’ Vecna, who preys on his victims’ weaknesses and destroys their minds.
Van Veen has spoken movingly about his struggles with dartitis, a psychological condition that leaves players unable to release the dart quickly, as well as feelings of inadequacy. Once Littler knew his opponent was struggling he kept increasing the pressure until his opponent’s will snapped.
Initially it seemed a classic might be brewing. Van Veen started with an 11-darter and, after a wobble, won the first set. Then he hit back-to-back 145 and 127 finishes to go two legs up in the second. Was Littler reeling? Hardly. He quickly took the next three legs to level the match at one-set all.
It was rat-a-tat darts of astonishing speed and ferocity. The first set was done and dusted in seven minutes and 39 seconds. The second in six minutes and one second. But when Littler won the third set with a 170 checkout all the tension and drama seemed to leave the match.
Littler raced through the fourth and, after briefly losing his concentration after being attacked by a wasp on the stage, he wrapped up the £1m first prize with a nerveless 147 checkout – triple 20, triple 19, double 15.
As Littler celebrated he was graciously congratulated by Van Veen. The Dutchman had dismantled the 2024 world champion, Luke Humphries, in the quarter-finals and beaten Gary Anderson, a two-time champion, in the semi-finals. But having climbed Kanchenjunga and K2 in successive evenings, he found facing the world’s best player over 13 sets like climbing Everest without oxygen.
But while it wasn’t much of a contest, the crowd didn’t seem to mind. They had paid £90 for a tiered seat ticket or £100 for a table, and many had come in fancy dress, knights and Ali Gs and fairy godmothers, along with enough animal costumes to fill an ark twice over, and they were determined to enjoy themselves.
The fans was also noticeably more international too. The first person through the gate was Mario Ketterer, an insurance worker from Zurich, who had come on an unlikely pilgrimage with his 15-year-old son. “Darts is very popular in Switzerland,” Ketterer said.
“Not to play, but to watch. We are total darts fans.” According to the PDC 20% of fans for the world championships now come from abroad, with Germany and the Netherlands particularly prominent. It’s a figure that is rising with every year for sport’s biggest pantomime. But, for the seventh successive year, they ended up saluting a British winner.
Afterwards Littler didn’t rule out chasing down Taylor’s 16 titles, promising that he would be around for a while, although in the short term Bristow’s five is certainly the realistic goal. And while superstars sometimes peak early – Mike Tyson and Becker come to mind – the worrying news for those hoping to dethrone him is that Littler’s thirst for greater glories is strong and unsatied.
“We’ve got to keep going,” he said after hugging the giant Sid Waddell trophy close to his bosom. “We’ve got to keep adding more titles.”
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