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

PDC
Sunday, 16 November 2025 at 20:48
Luke Littler
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."

PDC Order of Merit before Grand Slam final

RkNamePrize Money
1L. Littler£1.77M
2L. Humphries£1.69M
3M. van Gerwen£741.25k
4S. Bunting£607.25k
5J. Clayton£563.5k
6J. Wade£534.25k
7D. Noppert£530.75k
8G. van Veen£520k
9C. Dobey£516.75k
10G. Price£497.5k
11J. Rock£497k
12R. Smith£457.75k
13D. Heta£456k
14G. Anderson£444.5k
15M. Schindler£441.25k
16R. Cross£432.5k
17M. De Decker£413.5k
18D. Chisnall£394.5k
19R. Searle£393k
20J. Wattimena£383k
21N. Aspinall£380k
22R. Joyce£358.5k
23D. Van den Bergh£345.25k
24L. Woodhouse£344k
25D. Gurney£339.5k
26C. Menzies£325.25k
27R. Edhouse£316.5k
28M. Smith£313.5k
29D. van Duijvenbode£309.75k
30P. Wright£295k
31W. Nijman£292.75k
32J. Cullen£288.5k
33R. Pietreczko£279.5k
34A. Gilding£273k
35R. van Barneveld£266k
36S. Williams£245.25k
37K. Ratajski£240.5k
38M. Lukeman£226.5k
39B. Dolan£215.25k
40R. Evans£178k
41K. Doets£177.5k
42W. O'Connor£172.25k
43G. Clemens£171.25k
44N. Zonneveld£169.75k
45C. Rydz£165.5k
46M. Mansell£159.25k
47M. Razma£146k
48R. Veenstra£127.25k
49J. de Graaf£121.5k
50C. Scutt£119.75k
51K. Huybrechts£118k
52I. White£117k
53N. Springer£114.75k
54F. Hempel£103.75k
55A. Soutar£103.5k
56K. Barry£103.25k
57M. Campbell£101.75k
58R. Owen£95.5k
59N. Kenny£93k
60M. Suljovic£92.75k
61T. Tricole£91.25k
62R. Meikle£87.5k
63L. Wenig£86.25k
64S. Burton£81.75k
65J. Williams£80k
66D. Taylor£79.5k
67D. Slevin£77.25k
68J. Hurrell£77k
69M. Vandenbogaerde£76.75k
70C. Landman£67.25k
71K. Sedlacek£65k
72J. de Sousa£62k
73B. Brooks£57.25k
74S. Lennon£53.25k
75M. Dennant£52.25k
76A. Baetens£52k
77D. Beveridge£51.75k
78C. Crabtree£51.5k
79R. Griffin£43.5k
80O. Bates£42.25k
80S. Bialecki£42.25k
82B. van Peer£41.75k
83A. Hunt£41k
84P. Geeraets£40.25k
85R. Grundy£39.25k
86N. Rafferty£38.75k
86J. Van der Wal£38.75k
88R. Szaganski£38.25k
89J. Klaasen£34.75k
90J. Hood£33.25k
91M. Dragt£33k
92D. Labanauskas£31.75k
92A. Lipscombe£31.75k
92D. Lauby£31.75k
95W. Plaisier£30.5k
96M. Hopp£30.25k
97H. Puha£29.5k
98D. Gruellich£29.25k
99W. Borland£28k
99B. Reus£28k
101B. Claydon£27.5k
102G. Killington£27k
103C. Dekker£26.25k
104M. Kuivenhoven£26k
104A. Boulton£26k
106D. Pilgrim£24.25k
107M. Turetta£21k
108T. Bissell£20.25k
109C. Kist£20k
110L. Weber£19.75k
111S. Bellmont£18.75k
112D. Olde Kalter£18.5k
113J. Richardson£18.25k
114A. Harrysson£17.75k
115J. van den Herik£17.5k
116J. van der Velde£17.25k
116J. Long£17.25k
116T. Lovely£17.25k
116M. van Velzen£17.25k
120B. Greaves£16k
120V. Tingstrom£16k
122A. Warner£15.5k
123G. Ritchie£13.5k
124A. Merkx£13k
125M. King£12.5k
125J. van Schie£12.5k
125C. Sneyd£12.5k
128A. Paxton£11.75k
129M. Czerwinski£11.25k
130G. Hall£10.5k
131D. van Trijp£10k
131T. Evetts£10k
133T. Dudeney£9.5k
133O. Lukasiak£9.5k
133K. Burness£9.5k
136T. Kanik£9.25k
137B. Krcmar£9k
138J. Hunt£8.5k
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