2022
Littler won the JDC Super 16 in Milton Keynes at the end of January 2022, beating Eleanor Cairns in the final. [11] 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. [12] At the 2022 WDF World Darts Championship, Littler started as a seeded player from second round and won his first match against Ben Hazel 3–2 in sets. [13] He was then beaten 3–0 in sets by Richard Veenstra, who set a record average for a World Championship match at Lakeside. [14]
During the Welsh Open warm-up tournament, Littler hit a 121.86 average in one of his matches. [15] A day later, he won the final for another senior tournament win 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 best achievement was defeating Archie Self in the finals of the singles competition, 6–1 in legs. In the pair competition, together with Archie Self, he lost in the semi-finals, 4–1 in legs to Thomas Banks, and Charlie Manby. [16]
At the end of September 2022, Littler 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 alongside James Hurrell. They lost to Sam Canket and Nick Kenny from Wales, 4–1 in legs. [17] On the third day of the tournament, he advanced to the quarter-finals of the singles competition, where he lost to Andy Baetens 5–4 in legs. [18] In the team competition, he won the gold medal. [19] In the points classification, as a representative of England, he contributed to winning a gold medal.
Littler won the JDC World Darts Championship in London at the end of December 2022, beating Harry Gregory 5–0 in legs.
2023
Littler continued to play on the World Darts Federation circuit in 2023. He won the British Classic. Littler defeated Cameron Crabtree 4–2 in the last 16 and then achieved three consecutive ton+ averages in his final 3 games of the tournament, averaging 101.54 in victory over Dylan Quinn, averaging 113.34 in a whitewash 4–0 win against Tavis Dudeney and 105.85 in a 5–0 whitewash of Carl Wilkinson in the final. [20] On the same weekend Littler also won the British Open, defeating Peter Jacques 5–2 in the final. [21] [22]
UK Open
Littler made his debut at a PDC major event at the 2023 UK Open, after qualifying for the tournament via an amateur qualifying event organized by Rileys Sports Bars. [23] A first round 6–0 whitewash defeat of Nick Fullwell was followed by a 6–2 victory against Rusty-Jake Rodriguez in the second round and a 6–5 victory over Ritchie Edhouse in the third round. This meant that Littler had reached the fourth round at the tournament, the best showing of a Rileys qualifier alongside Thomas Banks. Littler lost his fourth round match to eventual semi-finalist Adam Gawlas 10–8. [24] For his showing Littler acquired £2,500 in prize money, which ranked him on the PDC Order of Merit for the first time. [25]
Development Tour, Junior and World Youth Championship wins
Littler competed in the 2023 PDC Development Tour series. He reached the final at event two, losing to Dylan Slevin 5–4 in a deciding leg. [26] He then won event three, defeating Jurjen van der Velde 5–1 in the final, event five, defeating Kevin Troppmann 5–3 in the final, [27] and event sixteen, defeating Bradly Roes 5–2 in the final. [28] At event twenty, Littler, averaged 115.22 in his last 32 win against Lewy Williams, [29] hit a nine-dart finish in his last 16 win against Rune van Damme, and defeated Gian van Veen 5–4 in the final to win the tournament. [30] Littler reached the final at event 23, losing to Gian van Veen 5–4 in a last-leg decider. At Development Tour 24 (DT24), the final Development Tour event of the year, Littler won his fifth Development Tour title, defeating Cameron Crabtree 5–1 in the final. Littler finished second on the 2023 Development Tour Order of Merit with £20,175. [31] [32] [33] [34]
On 26 November, Littler beat Gian van Veen 6–4 in the 2023 PDC World Youth Championship final. [35] [36]
On 17 December, Littler retained his JDC World Darts Championship title, defeating Álmos Kovács 5–3 in the final. [37]
MODUS Super Series
In May 2023, Littler won the third season of the MODUS Super Series, defeating Jacob Taylor 4–1 in legs in the final. [38] In August 2023, he won the fourth season of the MODUS Super Series, defeating Colin Osborne 4–2 in the final. [39]
2024
Players Championships and Players Championship Finals
As he had gained a PDC Tour Card for 2024, Littler played at his debut 2024 PDC Players Championship series. [61] In Players Championship 1, he defeated Jim Williams 6–1 in legs in the first round, winning the match with an 11-darter to finish. [62] In the second round, he defeated Luke Woodhouse 6–3. In the third round, Littler won 6–1 against Michele Turetta, hitting a nine-darter in the final leg. [63] [64] In the fourth round, Littler beat Cameron Menzies 6–2 to enter his first pro-tour quarter-final. [65] In the quarter-finals, Littler defeated James Hurrell 6–3. [66] In the semi-finals, Littler won 7–6 in his match against Alan Soutar. [67] Having reached the final of a Players Championship event the first time, Littler averaged 109.64 to defeat Ryan Searle 8–7, who averaged 111.71 in the process, to win his first Players Championship on his debut. [68] [69] Before the second event, Littler was awarded a silver pin for his nine-darter against Michele Turetta; he was also awarded a gold pin for his televised nine-darter against Nathan Aspinall at the Bahrain Darts Masters. [70] In Players Championship 2, Littler continued his winning streak with a 6–4 win over Danny Noppert before losing to Radek Szagański 6–5. [71] In Players Championship 3, Littler defeated Keane Barry 6–5, Cameron Menzies 6–3, Kevin Doets 6–2 and Dirk van Duijvenbode 6–4 before losing to Callan Rydz 6–4 in the quarter-finals. [72] In Players Championship 4, Littler lost 6–5 to James Wade in the first round. [73] [74]
Following the 2024 World Matchplay, Littler won his second Players Championship title at PC15, defeating Boris Krcmar, Pascal Rupprecht, Jonny Clayton, Rhys Griffin, Krzysztof Ratajski, and Chris Dobey before overcoming Wessel Nijman 8–6 in the final. [75] [76]
Following the 2024 World Series of Darts Finals, Littler won his third Players Championship title at PC20, defeating Stephen Bunting 8–7 in a last–leg decider in the final. [77]
At PC24 Littler reached the semi-finals, losing to Stephen Bunting 7–6 in a deciding leg and at Players Championship 25 Littler lost to Chris Dobey in the quarter-finals 6–5 in another last–leg decider. [78]
Littler qualified for the 2024 Players Championship Finals as the 8th seed [79] [80] [81] and whitewashed 57th seed Rob Cross 6–0 in the first round, averaging 112.73. [82] [83] [84] [85] Littler then defeated Ritchie Edhouse 6–2, again missing Double 12 for a nine–darter for the match and Danny Noppert 10–3, averaging 105.33 and 104.70 in the respective victories. [86] [87] Littler defeated Mike De Decker 10–3 with a 103.73 average and Ross Smith 11–9, averaging 104.38, to reached his third ranked PDC Major final. He lost the final to Luke Humphries 11–7, averaging 100.08 in defeat to Humphries’ 103.69. [88] [89]
UK Open
In the fourth round of the 2024 UK Open, Littler was drawn against three-time UK Open champion James Wade. [90] Littler defeated Wade 10–7, hitting a 170 checkout en route. [91] Littler was drawn against Martin Schindler in the fifth round, where he won 10–8, beating his personal best result at the event to reach the sixth round for the first time. [92] In the sixth round, Littler was drawn to play Dave Chisnall. [93] Littler won the match 10–5 to reach his second PDC major quarter-final. [94] He lost there 10–8 to Damon Heta. [95] [96]
European Tour and European Championship
Littler qualified for the 2024 Belgian Darts Open (ET1) at the Tour Card Holder qualifiers, which was thus his first European Tour event, surpassing Radek Szagański 6–0, Mervyn King 6–3, and Maik Kuivenhoven 6–5. [97] [98] Littler was drawn against José de Sousa in the event’s first round. Littler defeated de Sousa 6–5. [99] Littler beat Krzysztof Ratajski in the second round 6–3. [100] After the match, he accused Ratajski of sly gamesmanship after he sipped from his drink twice. [101] In a rematch from the UK Open, Littler defeated Damon Heta 6–3 to reach the quarter-finals. [102] Littler averaged 110.06 to defeat Jermaine Wattimena 6–2. [103] Littler beat Ricardo Pietreczko to reach his first final on the European Tour, 7–3. [104] After the match, Pietreczko lashed out against Littler on the stage and on social media, posting, "Hope his arrogance is punished". [105] [106] Littler defeated Rob Cross 8–7 in the final, to win his first PDC European Tour event on debut. Littler hit third nine-dart finish of the year en-route to his victory. [107] [108] [109] [10]
Littler failed to qualify for the 2024 German Darts Grand Prix (ET2) after he defeated Christian Perez 6–4 but lost to Jim Williams 6–5 in the Tour Card Holder qualifiers. [98]
Littler qualified for the 2024 European Darts Grand Prix (ET4) at the Card Holder qualifiers, defeating George Killington 6–1 in the first round before beating Simon Whitlock, despite Whitlock hitting a nine-dart finish, [110] Danny van Trijp and Ian White with 6–5 victories. [111] At ET4, Littler whitewashed Arno Merk 6–0 in the first round. [112] In the second round Littler lost to Luke Humphries 6–5 in a deciding leg. [113]
At the 2024 Austrian Darts Open (ET5) Littler achieved 6–2 wins in matches against Zoran Lerchbacher [114] and Damon Heta, [115] [116] and defeated Krzysztof Ratajski 6–3 to reach the quarter-final stage. In his quarter-final match Littler triumphed over Danny Noppert 6–5 in a deciding leg. Littler defeated Ross Smith 7–2 in the semi-finals. In the final Littler won 8–4 against Joe Cullen, meaning Littler claimed his second European Tour title. [117] [118]
At the 2024 German Darts Championship (ET9) Littler whitewashed Dylan Slevin 6–0, averaging 101.33, in the last 32. In the last 16 Littler defeated Ryan Searle 6–2 and in the quarter-finals beat Damon Heta 6–5. Littler averaged 107.88 in his 7–2 semi-final victory over Daryl Gurney to book a place in the final. [119] In the final Littler averaged 106.87 but it wasn't enough to defeat Peter Wright, who took the title with an 8–5 win. [120] [121]
At the 2024 Czech Darts Open (ET13) Littler defeated Nathan Aspinall 6–1, averaging 110.43. [122] [123] In the third round Littler set his highest PDC average of his career to date, averaging 116.51 to defeat Damon Heta 6–3, who himself averaged 105.59. [124] Littler's first 9 average of 131.48 eclipsed the 130.33 he recorded in his 6–2 win in the Premier League against Michael van Gerwen [125] while his 3 dart average eclipsed the 115.22 he hit at 2023's Development Tour 20 against Lewy Williams. [30] [29] In his quarter-final match against van Gerwen Littler averaged 110.57 with a first 9 average of 132.10 in a 6–1 win. Van Gerwen put in a 112.19 average, the highest losing average in European Tour history. In his semi-final match against Luke Humphries Littler averaged 106.73 with a first 9 average of 122.42 but lost 7–4 with Humphries averaging 108.56. [126] [127]
Littler qualified for the 2024 European Championship as the number 3 seed as a result of his performances on the 2024 European Tour but lost 6–4 to Andrew Gilding in the first round. [128]
Premier League Darts
Littler started his 2024 Premier League Darts campaign at the Utilita Arena in Cardiff, Wales. [129] He went on to win his debut match, beating Luke Humphries 6–2. [130] After the match, Humphries wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that he felt "gutted" with the constant whistling and heckling at him during the match. [131] Littler lost his semi-final match narrowly against Michael Smith, 6–5. [132]
Littler reached the final in week two at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin, Germany. [133] He defeated Rob Cross 6–5 [134] and Luke Humphries 6–5 [135] before losing to Michael van Gerwen 6–5. [136] During night three, Littler lost in the quarter-final stages at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland, to Gerwyn Price 6–5. [137] [138] On night four at the Newcastle Arena, Littler hit a 170 checkout [139] en route to a 6–5 victory over Peter Wright in the quarter-finals, before losing to Michael van Gerwen 6–5 in the semi-finals. [140]
Just before the 2024 UK Open weekend, Littler played at Premier League event five at the Westpoint Arena in Exeter. In the quarter-finals he defeated Michael Smith 6–2, before losing 6–3 to Rob Cross in the semi-finals. [141] [142] [143] On night six at Brighton Centre, Littler won 6–3 against Nathan Aspinall in the quarter-finals, but lost to Michael Smith 6–3 in the semi-final. [144] [145] [146] On night seven at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, Littler averaged 114.00 to defeat Michael van Gerwen, who averaged 110.94, 6–2. [147] [148] In the semi-final, Littler lost 6–3 to Nathan Aspinall. [149] [150] On night eight at the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland, Littler lost to Michael Smith 6–4. [151] [152]
Night nine at the SSE Arena, Belfast saw Luke Littler win a Premier League for the first time in his career. Littler beat Luke Humphries 6–5 in a deciding leg in the quarter-finals, Michael van Gerwen 6–3 in the semi-finals and Nathan Aspinall 6–4 in the night's final. [153] Littler then won night ten at the Manchester Arena, again defeating Van Gerwen and Aspinall 6–3 and 6–4 respectively before achieving a 6–3 victory over Gerwyn Price in the final for back to-back night wins. [154] Littler made a third consecutive night final on night eleven at Arena Birmingham, defeating Rob Cross and Luke Humphries each 6–5, in deciding legs before only averaging 88.12 in a 6–3 loss to Michael van Gerwen in the night final, with Van Gerwen only averaging 90.38 himself. [155] On night twelve at Rotterdam Ahoy Littler was defeated 6–3 by Michael Smith in his quarter-final match. [156]
Littler picked up his third night win in the Premier League on night thirteen at the Liverpool Arena, defeating Gerwyn Price 6–3 at the quarter-final stage before coming back from 5–2 down to defeat Nathan Aspinall in the semi-finals, with Aspinall missing five match darts. Littler secured the night win with a 6–2 victory over Rob Cross. This saw him finish night thirteen top of the table on 31 points, five points clear of second place Luke Humphries. [157] Littler won Night 14 at P&J Live, Aberdeen. Littler defeated Nathan Aspinall 6–5 again and Michael Smith 6–1, averaging 110.1, to reach the final where he beat Rob Cross 6–4. [158] On Night 15 and 16 Littler defeated Peter Wright both quarter-finals before losing in the semi-finals to Michael van Gerwen and Michael Smith respectively.
Littler defeated Michael Smith 10–5 in the semi-final. He then won his first major title and his first Premier League title on debut, beating Luke Humphries 11–7 in the final. [159] [160] He became the youngest player to win a major PDC tournament. Littler also hit a nine-darter in the final. [161]
Grand Slam of Darts
At the 2024 Grand Slam of Darts Littler won his first major ranking title.
Littler began his campaign in Group F, starting with a 5–0 win over Keane Barry, completing the match in six minutes averaging 112.16. He then defeated 2024 UK Open champion Dimitri Van den Bergh 5–1, securing his place in the knockout stages. [180] In his final group match, Littler defeated Lourence Ilagan 5–3, missing Double 12 for a nine-dart finish in the last leg of the match. [181]
In the second round, Littler came back from 8–4 down to defeat Mike De Decker 10–9 in a last–leg decider. [182] He then beat Jermaine Wattimena 16–2, with the largest margin of victory in a Grand Slam quarter-final. [183] Littler faced Gary Anderson in the semi-finals, and led 7–4 after 11 legs. He then lost seven consecutive legs to trail 11–7, but took the match to a deciding leg and won 16–15. In the final, Littler defeated Martin Lukeman 16–3, securing the Grand Slam of Darts title on debut. [184] [185]
1 (24 November 2024) [1] 
