Can Luke Littler Become the World Champion in 2025?

The 17-year-old professional darts player became £200,000 richer when he made it all the way to the final of the PDC World Darts Championship before ultimately going down to compatriot Luke Humphries.

At the time, Littler was just 16 years old, and his performance put him in the record books as the youngest player to ever make it to the final of the PDC World Darts Championship. His performance shot him up the rankings and Littler is now the 31st in the world, not bad for a teenager.

Luke Littler has all of the talent to become a PDC World Champion. After an extra year of preparation, he has to be a strong favorite to win the title in 2025. It’ll be scary to think how good the Runcorn man will be after playing all of the big professional tournaments in 2024.

Littler Was Always Destined for Darts Greatness

He threw his first dart when he was only 18 months old, yes, you read that correctly. His father came home one day with a dartboard from a local pound shop, and from that point on, Littler couldn’t stop throwing darts.

From an early age, Littler showed some immense natural talent. When he was just six years old, he threw his first 180, which shocked his family. To nurture his talent, they took young 10-year-old Luke down to the St Helens Dart Academy, and he continued to get better and better.

The young pro had a strong youth career, winning the England Youth Grand Prix and the Isle of Man Masters youth competition in 2019. He also won the youth title at the England Open in 2021. Littler burst onto the senior scene at the age of 14 after winning the Irish Open in 2021. That performance booked him a spot at the 2022 WDF World Darts Championship.

He Shows His PDC World Championship Wasn’t a Fluke in Bahrain

After shocking the world at the PDC World Championship in London, he hopped on a plane and flew to Bahrain. At the Bahrain Open, which ran from 18–19 January 2024, he crushed big names like Nathan Aspinall and former world champion Gerwyn Price in the semi-final. Littler showed incredible composure for such a young player. He wasn’t put off by being surrounded by darts royalty. Littler was so comfortable that he became the youngest player in history to hit a televised nine-darter.

Littler made it all the way to the final, where he lined up against none other than the legendary Dutchman Michael van Gerwen. He has dominated darts for years, been consistently ranked as number one from 2014 to 2021, and is a three-time PDC World Champion. However, that didn’t seem to bother Littler. 

In a close back-and-forth match, Littler surged ahead and kept the lead. The then 16-year-old defeated one of the greatest darts players of all time 8-5 and picked up £20,000 in the process. Now, no one could possibly say that Littler got lucky in his run to the PDC World Championship final.

Littler Is Eyeing Other Big Darts Tournaments

Due to Littler’s run at the PDC World Championship, the teenager has earned him a spot in the coveted Premier League. The Premier League kicks in February and will run into May. You can catch all of the action on Thursday nights. The Premier League will start at the Utilita Arena in Cardiff and then travel all over Europe and the UK. 

The Premier League is considered one of the most exclusive dart competitions not far behind the PDC World Championship. There will be a massive £1,000,000 prize pool, and the winner will pocket over £275,000. If Littler wants to win the Premier League, he’s going to have his work cut out for him. 

The 17-year-old will be battling against eight of the best darts players in the world, including his old nemesis Luke Humphries and former world champions like Michael van Gerwen, Gerwyn Price, Rob Cross, and Michael Smith. However, if he can keep up his recent form and recreate his performance in Bahrain, then Littler has a great shot at winning the Premier League!