Preview final World Darts Championship 2024: Luke Littler and Luke Humphries battle for world title Wednesday night

What a wonderful final we have in store at the 2024 World Darts Championship. On Wednesday night, Luke Littler and Luke Humphries will decide between themselves who will be the new world champion.

It is a showdown between possibly the greatest talent ever against the best darter today. Ingredients, then, for a great match on Wednesday night between the two Luke's.

Route to the finals

Luke Littler has been one of the great stars of this tournament right from the start. Christian Kist had nothing to contribute against Littler and lost 3-0 in sets. In that match, the English prodigy recorded an average of 106.12. This performance made Littler the youngest player ever to win a match at the World Darts Championship. Moreover, he recorded the highest ever average of a World Cup debutant in his first match. Kist predicted after his defeat that Littler could become world champion despite his very young age. In any case, Littler is now the youngest finalist ever at the World Darts Championship, and who knows what else may lie ahead.

After his victory over Kist, 'The Nuke' also dealt with Andrew Gilding (3-1), Matt Campbell (4-1), Raymond van Barneveld (4-1) and Brendan Dolan (5-1) to qualify for the semifinals. At the last four, another test awaited against former world champion Rob Cross. 'Voltage' offered considerable resistance especially in the beginning, but still went down 6-2 against the 16-year-old prodigy.

For years, former junior world champion Humphries was hiccuping against the world top, but that one big break didn't happen. By 2022, Humphries was already burgeoning with four titles on the Euro Tour. In the fall of 2023, he finally succeeded at the major major tournaments as well. Humphries took the overall victory at the World Grand Prix, and that ensured that the proverbial fence was up. James Wade managed to outsmart Humphries at the European Darts Championship, but that turned out to be his only defeat on television this fall. In November, Humphries won the Grand Slam of Darts and the Players Championship Finals. Now the world title also beckons, and in any case Humphries already has the number-one position in the world rankings in his pocket.

As the top favorite with the bookmakers, Humphries traveled to the World Darts Championship, but the first rounds proved to be a huge struggle for the man from Newbury. Right after his 3-0 victory over Lee Evans in the second round, Humphries lost his status as top favorite to Michael van Gerwen. The Englishman then trailed 1-3 against Ricardo Pietreczko, but still managed to beat the German 4-3 in sets. Also against Joe Cullen, Humphries survived a deficit. The Rockstar" squandered an 0-2 lead and even missed two match darts in the decisive seventh set to put an end to his compatriot's title aspirations. Humphries' top form still emerged and after a sudden-death leg, 'Cool Hand Luke' booked his spot in the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, Humphries seems to have thrown off all his shyness. In the last eight, he left Dave Chisnall defenseless 5-1 thanks to an average of 103.50 per turn. His semifinal against Scott Williams was even more impressive. Williams was defeated 6-0 with an average of almost 109.

Whatever the outcome of the final, Humphries will become the new world number one after the World Darts Championship anyway. Should Humphries also take the world title, 'Cool Hand Luke' will immediately have a lead of almost four tons over Michael van Gerwen and Michael Smith.

Littler began the tournament as the world's No. 164 seed. Meanwhile, "The Nuke" has already worked his way up to 31st place on the PDC Order of Merit. With a world title, Littler rises even further to ninth place. A Tour Card for next season is already in the pocket of the 16-year-old Littler. He does not have to defend any prize money next season at all, so the Englishman can only rise further in the coming period.

World Darts Championship 2024 playing schedule

Wednesday, Jan. 3 (from 8 p.m.)

Finale

Luke Littler v Luke Humphries