| Luke Littler MBE | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Littler in 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | The Nuke | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 21 January 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home town | Warrington, 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– (Tour Card: 2024–) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WDF | 2019–2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current world ranking | ( PDC ) 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WDF major events – best performances | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championship | Last 16: 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Masters | Last 64: 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PDC premier events – best performances | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Championship | Winner (1): 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Matchplay | Winner (1): 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Grand Prix | Winner (1): 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UK Open | Winner (1): 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam | Winner (2): 2024, 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| European Championship | Last 16: 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Premier League | Winner (1): 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PC Finals | Winner (1): 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Masters | Quarter-final: 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Series Finals | Winner (1): 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other achievements | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2023 Televised Performance of the Year 2023, 2024 Young Player of the Year 2024 PDC Player of the Year 2024 Best Newcomer 2024 Fans' Player of the Year 2024 PDPA Players' Player of the Year [4] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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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 the reigning PDC world champion and currently ranked world number one. Nicknamed "the Nuke", he is the youngest world champion in darts history, having won the 2025 World Championship at 17 years and 347 days old. He is also the reigning two-time back-to-back Grand Slam champion and the reigning UK Open, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix and Players champion.
After winning the 2023 PDC World Youth Championship and five PDC Development Tours, Littler made his PDC World Darts Championship debut at the 2024 edition. He reached the final where he was defeated by Luke Humphries. In 2025, Littler reached the final for a second consecutive year, where he defeated Michael van Gerwen to win the title. Littler has won nine PDC major singles titles, placing him fourth in the all-time list. Littler has won a total of 21 PDC titles in his professional career.
Littler became the youngest world number one in PDC history after winning the 2025 Grand Slam. Named BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year in 2024, his rise to prominence at age 16 led to an increased British interest in the sport, a phenomenon dubbed "Littlermania" or the "Littler effect".
Luke Littler was born on 21 January 2007 at Warrington Hospital. [5] [6] [7] [a] He is the son of taxi driver Anthony Buckley and candle shop worker Lisa Littler. [11] [12] Littler spent his early childhood in Runcorn before moving back to Warrington at the age of six. [13] [14] He has two brothers and a sister. [15] He began playing darts when he was 18 months old after his father bought him a magnetic dart board from a pound shop. [16] He has claimed that he scored his first 180 at the age of six and a nine-dart finish at the age of 13. [17] When he was 10, he joined the St Helens Darts Academy and began playing in under-21 leagues. [18] He was educated at Padgate Academy in Warrington. [19]
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. [20] At the end of November, during the JDC MVG Masters tournament, he hit a nine-dart finish. [21] [22]
Littler won the JDC Super 16 in Milton Keynes at the end of January 2022, beating Eleanor Cairns in the final. [23] 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. [24] 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. [25] [26] [27] 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. [28]
Littler won the JDC World Darts Championship in London at the end of December 2022, beating Harry Gregory 5–0 in legs. [29]
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. [30] On the same weekend, he also won the British Open, defeating Peter Jacques 5–2 in the final. [31] [32]
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. [33] He reached the fourth round alongside fellow Rileys qualifier Thomas Banks, where he lost to eventual semi-finalist Adam Gawlas 10–8. [34] [35]
Also in 2023, Littler won the third and fourth seasons of the MODUS Super Series. [36] [37] [38]
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. [39] [40]
On 26 November, Littler beat Gian van Veen 6–4 in the 2023 PDC World Youth Championship final. [41] [40] The next month, he retained his JDC World Darts Championship title, defeating Álmos Kovács 5–3 in the final. [42]
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. [43] He started off as an outsider with 66/1 odds. [44] Littler reached the final by defeating former world champion Rob Cross 6–2 in the semi-finals. [45] 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. [46] Littler faced Luke Humphries in the final [47] on 3 January 2024, taking a 4–2 lead before eventually losing to Humphries 7–4. [48] [49] 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. [50] [51]
Littler made his World Series debut at the Bahrain Darts Masters. [52] He hit his first televised nine-dart finish in his quarter-final win against Nathan Aspinall, becoming the youngest player to do so. [53] [54] He won 8–5 against Michael van Gerwen in the final to capture his first PDC senior title. [55] Competing in the Premier League for the first time, he ended the league phase with four nightly wins to top the table. [56] [57] Littler was matched up against fourth-placed Michael Smith in the semi-finals of the play-offs, [57] 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. [58] [59]
As he had gained a PDC Tour Card, Littler played in his first Players Championship series, winning three titles. [60] [61] [62] 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. [63] [64] He won his second World Series title at the Poland Darts Masters by beating Rob Cross 8–3 in the final, [65] before clinching the World Series Finals in September, defeating Michael Smith 11–4 in the final. [66] 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. [67] 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. [68] [69]
Littler entered the second round of the 2025 World Championship as the fourth seed, [70] 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, missing double 12 for a nine-darter in the second leg of the set. [71] [72] Littler reached the final by defeating Meikle, Ian White, Ryan Joyce, Nathan Aspinall and Stephen Bunting. [73] 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, [74] 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. [75] He was also seven years younger than Van Gerwen when he won his first world title in 2014 at age 24. [73] [76] 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. [77]
In March, Littler won the UK Open for the first time; he defeated James Wade 11–2 in the final. [78] He retained his Belgian Darts Open title – winning his third European Tour title. [79] 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. [80] 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. [81] 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. [82]
At the World Matchplay, Littler hit a nine-dart finish in his semi-final match against Josh Rock. [83] 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. [84] He followed this victory by winning back-to-back World Series titles in Australia and New Zealand, [85] [86] as well as a second European Tour title of the year at the Flanders Darts Trophy. [87] At the World Grand Prix, Littler won his seventh PDC major title by defeating Luke Humphries 6–1 in the final. [88] He won his sole Players Championship title of the year at Players Championship 32, beating Dennie Olde Kalter 8–2 in the final. [89]
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. [90]
Littler has been noted for his heavy scoring during matches, frequently hitting the maximum score of 180. [91] Using darts manufactured by Target with characteristically long 45mm points, [92] Littler plays at a quick pace [91] and is known for his efficiency in checking out on the double 10 segment. [93] [94] [95]
"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, [97] [98] [99] [100] and a record high of 3.7 million viewers watched the 2024 world final. [101] [102] The president of the Professional Darts Corporation, Barry Hearn, attributed this phenomenon to Littler's success and described it as "Littlermania", [103] while others have dubbed it the "[Luke] Littler effect". [104] [105] [106]
Littler was named BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year in 2024, becoming the first darts player to receive the award. [107] He also finished as runner-up for BBC Sports Personality of the Year behind 2024 Summer Olympics gold medalist Keely Hodgkinson. [108] 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. [109] [110] 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. [111] [112]
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. [113] WWE later tweeted an invitation to Littler for their upcoming house show at the O2 Arena in April, which he accepted, [114] and John Cena posted an uncaptioned picture of Littler on his famously cryptic Instagram after Littler admitted to being a fan. [115] [116] Later that year, he was given a tour of WWE's headquarters Titan Towers by Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. [117]
In March 2024, he made an appearance on the 232nd episode of The Jonathan Ross Show alongside Rob Beckett, Millie Bobby Brown, Liam Gallagher, Raye, and John Squire. [118] He was involved in a darts challenge where he played against Beckett, Brown, and Raye in a three-on-one scoring challenge. [119] The three scored a total of 83, while Littler hit a score of 140. [120] The clip went viral after viewers of the show were amused by his nonchalant reaction to Brown admitting to being a huge fan of him. [121] That same month, he made an appearance on Fantasy Football League alongside Stuart Broad. [122] [123] He has appeared in the darts-themed game show Bullseye's on two ocaasions. [124] [125]
Following his 2025 World Championship win, Littler paraded his trophy at Old Trafford during half-time of Manchester United's match against Brighton & Hove Albion on 19 January 2025. [126] 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. [127]
In February 2024, Littler signed a deal with fashion brand BoohooMAN to allow him to help promote the Motor Neurone Disease Association, [128] and signed a multi-year professional contract with darts manufacturer Target Darts. [129] He has also been sponsored by Xbox and KP Nuts. [130] [131]
Littler was previously part of the ZXF Sports Management stable run by Martin Foulds, who he signed with at the age of 13 in 2020. In October 2025, he announced that he had parted ways with ZXF Sports, [132] [133] soon agreeing to a management deal with Target Darts. [134] [135]
Littler is a supporter of football club Manchester United and rugby league club the Warrington Wolves. [136] 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. [137] [138]
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 . [139] On 7 February 2025, Littler played Burtwistle on livestream in a game of darts, where he won against Burtwistle, 3–2. [140]
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". [141]
| Legend |
|---|
| World Championship (1–1) |
| World Matchplay (1–0) |
| World Grand Prix (1–0) |
| UK Open (1–0) |
| Premier League (1–1) |
| World Series Finals (1–1) |
| Grand Slam (2–0) |
| Players Championship Finals (1–1) |
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score [N 1] | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 1. | 2024 | World Championship | | 4–7 (s) | [142] |
| Winner | 1. | 2024 | Premier League Darts | | 11–7 (l) | [143] |
| Winner | 2. | 2024 | World Series of Darts Finals | | 11–4 (l) | [144] |
| Winner | 3. | 2024 | Grand Slam of Darts | | 16–3 (l) | [67] |
| Runner-up | 2. | 2024 | Players Championship Finals | | 7–11 (l) | [68] |
| Winner | 4. | 2025 | World Championship | | 7–3 (s) | [76] |
| Winner | 5. | 2025 | UK Open | | 11–2 (l) | [145] |
| Runner-up | 3. | 2025 | Premier League Darts | | 8–11 (l) | [82] |
| Winner | 6. | 2025 | World Matchplay | | 18–13 (l) | [146] |
| Runner-up | 4. | 2025 | World Series of Darts Finals | | 7–11 (l) | [147] |
| Winner | 7. | 2025 | World Grand Prix | | 6–1 (s) | [88] |
| Winner | 8. | 2025 | Grand Slam of Darts | | 16–11 (l) | [90] |
| Winner | 9. | 2025 | Players Championship Finals | | 11–8 (l) | |
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent in the final | Score [N 1] | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 2024 | Bahrain Darts Masters | | 8–5 (l) | [55] |
| Runner-up | 1. | 2024 | Dutch Darts Masters | | 6–8 (l) | [148] |
| Winner | 2. | 2024 | Poland Darts Masters | | 8–3 (l) | [149] |
| Runner-up | 2. | 2024 | Australian Darts Masters | | 1–8 (l) | [150] |
| Winner | 3. | 2025 | Australian Darts Masters | | 8–4 (l) | [151] |
| Winner | 4. | 2025 | New Zealand Darts Masters | | 8–4 (l) | [152] |
WDF
| Tournament | 2022 | 2023 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WDF Ranked major/platinum events | ||||
| WDF World Championship | 3R | WD [N 2] | ||
| WDF World Masters | 3R | NH | ||
PDC
| Tournament | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PDC Ranked televised events | |||||||||
| PDC World Championship | DNQ | F | W | ||||||
| PDC World Masters [N 3] | DNQ | QF | |||||||
| UK Open | 4R | QF | W | ||||||
| World Matchplay | DNQ | 1R | W | ||||||
| World Grand Prix | DNQ | 1R | W | ||||||
| European Championship | DNQ | 1R | 2R | ||||||
| Grand Slam of Darts | DNQ | W | W | ||||||
| Players Championship Finals | DNQ | F | W | ||||||
| PDC Non-ranked televised events | |||||||||
| Premier League Darts | DNP | W | F | ||||||
| PDC World Cup of Darts | DNQ | 2R | |||||||
| World Series of Darts Finals | DNP | W | F | ||||||
| PDC World Youth Championship | W | DNP | SF | ||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||
| Season-end ranking (PDC) | 31 [155] | 2 [156] | |||||||
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 |
PDC European Tour
| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | BDO W | DNQ | EDG 2R | ADO W | BSD 1R | DNP | GDC F | FDT 3R | HDT WD | SDT 3R | CDO SF | |||
| 2025 | BDO W | DNP | GDG SF | DNP | FDT W | CDO 3R | HDT SF | SDT DNP | GDC WD | |||||
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
| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | BAH W | DUT F | USA SF | NOR DNP | POL W | AUS F | NZE SF |
| 2025 | BAH QF | DUT SF | NOR QF | USA QF | POL SF | AUS W | NZE W |
PDC Development Tour
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | MIL QF | MIL F | MIL W | MIL QF | MIL W | WIG QF | WIG 4R | WIG QF | WIG 4R | WIG QF | HIL QF | HIL 4R | HIL 6R | HIL 5R | HIL 3R | LEI W | LEI 5R | LEI QF | LEI 1R | LEI W | MIL 4R | MIL QF | MIL F | MIL W |
| 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 | ||
The following is a list of titles won by Luke Littler in his career. [157] [158] [159]
Source: [166]
Gold Ranked
Silver Ranked
Bronze Ranked
Non-ranked
| Date | Opponent | Tournament | Method | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 January 2024 | | 2024 Bahrain Darts Masters | 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 | [171] |
| 23 May 2024 | | 2024 Premier League Darts | 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 | [172] |
| 20 March 2025 | | 2025 Premier League Darts | 3 x T20; 3 x T20, T20, T17, D15 | [173] |
| 26 July 2025 | | 2025 World Matchplay | 3 x T20; 3 x T20, T20, T17, D15 | [174] |