Luke Littler makes history as world's youngest ever World Number One in darts

Luke Littler booked his name in darts history Sunday afternoon again. As of Monday, the 18-year-old sensation from Warrington is officially the youngest world number one ever, knocking a 2014 record held by Michael van Gerwen out of the books. Van Gerwen was 24 years old at the time when he topped the world rankings, Littler does so six years earlier.

That the young Englishman would sooner or later take first place had been written in the stars for months and was set at the Grand Slam of Darts. Since his breakthrough at the 2024 World Championship, where he sensationally reached the final, his rise has been unstoppable. A year later, he became the youngest ever world champion and grew into a worldwide phenomenon, someone who has taken darts beyond the confines of the sport.

It is also something that the media has very much used as a constant narrative throughout the season in waiting for Littler to become World Number One as the 'media darling' of the sport. But Humphries has made them wait for a long while including at the World Grand Prix where he stopped the lord mayors show for a while.

Littler sealed his new status by winning 16-9 over Danny Noppert in the semifinals of the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton. In doing so, he passed Luke Humphries, his perennial rival of the last two seasons, in the world rankings.

"It's not even been two years on the tour and I'm already world number one. That's job done. But now I've got a bigger match later tonight," Littler said. "I've said it throughout the year that Luke Humphries was the best in the world. Now I am the best in the world.

"It's another Luke vs Luke final, some like it, others don't. It's going to be another brilliant game. I've still not been beaten here. Hopefully I can go back-to-back tonight."

Littler, who has now earned over 1.77 million pounds in ranking prize money in less than two years, had to work hard against Noppert. Still, he ran out convincingly in the closing stages and qualified for his next final against Humphries with his 16-9 win.

That final promises to be fireworks once again. Humphries had beaten Gerwyn Price 16-13 earlier in the afternoon to qualify for his third consecutive major final. The 30-year-old Englishman already had an impressive season, with wins in the Premier League and at the World Masters, and hopes to capture his second Grand Slam title in Wolverhampton.

"This could be my last day as world No 1, who knows? But it's not about that tonight, it's about picking up this trophy which really started my career off," Humphries said.

"I know it sounds crazy but I hope he [Littler] wins. He's probably going to take it off me anyway. If Danny wins, that's great for more, but a great final against Luke is a prospect I always enjoy.

"When I get to the Worlds I'll be fighting hard to take it back off him. It's war now! I'm going to try and take it back."