Who is 17-year-old darts star Luke 'The Nuke' Littler in final of World Darts Championship
Teenage darts star Luke Littler has made it into the finals of the PDC World Darts Championship for the second time running - keeping his dream alive of becoming the youngest ever winner of the tournament.
Luke "The Nuke" Littler, 17, beat Nathan Aspinall 5-2 on Wednesday, 1 January to secure his spot in the last four against Stephen Bunting.
He then beat Bunting 6-1, booking his place in the final - describing a win as the “stuff dreams are made of”.
Littler lost the previous 2024 final of the World Darts Championship to Luke Humphries, and is hoping to go one better on Friday 3 January at the Alexandra Palace, London.
Littler has had an outstanding PDC World Darts Championship campaign so far, seeing off experienced darts players including Ryan Joyce and his good friend Nathan Aspinall.
He is now odds-on favourite to win the tournament, after 2024 winner Luke Humphries was knocked out by Peter Wright in the last 16.
If Littler were to win this year's World Darts Championship, he would smash the previous record for the youngest ever winner held by Michael Van Gerwen, who was 24 when he won it in 2014.
The winner of the tournament will receive £500,000 in prize money, which would propel Littler to second in the world rankings.
Littler rose to stardom between December 2023 and January 2024 as he reached the final of the World Darts Championship, even beating his childhood hero Raymond van Barneveld.
He eventually lost a thrilling match to current world number one Luke Humphries.
"The Nuke" has had an incredible first year on the PDC Tour, winning 10 titles including the Premier League and the Grand Slam of Darts.
He capped off 2024 by winning the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award.
But who is Luke 'the Nuke' Littler?
Littler, born in Runcorn, Cheshire, has been playing darts since he was nine.
At age 12, he won the England Youth Grand Prix in 2019.
He entered the world of professional darts in 2021, winning the Irish Open at the age of 14.
In 2022, he won the Welsh Open and has notched further senior titles at the Isle of Man Classic, Gibraltar Open, British Open and British Classic.
Littler went on to win the Gibraltar Open and the PDC World Youth Championship in 2023, making it his breakthrough year.
He qualified for the 2024 PDC World Darts Championship through the PDC Development Tour, and finished as the runner-up in the most prestigious tournament in darts.
"The Nuke" has since risen to fourth in the PDC rankings, banking £618,500 of ranked prize money in the process.
What happened at his debut World Darts Championship in 2024?
In his first win of the tournament, Littler beat Dutchman Christian Kist, hitting seven 180s and averaging 106.2, the highest average to ever be achieved on a debut.
During the win, on Wednesday 20 December, a sold-out Alexandra Palace erupted into a chorus of "You've got school in the morning", to which the Warrington-based teenager responded by pumping his chest.
The teen chose Greenlight by Pitbull as his walk-on music as he entered the match at Alexandra Palace, shaking hands with members of the crowd as the song played.
He then took on Andrew Gilding, knocking out the 20th seed with a 3-1 win in the second round.
In the third round, Littler beat Canadian Matt Campbell 4-1 to make history as the youngest player to ever reach the last 16 of the tournament.
He then set records again, becoming the youngest player to reach the last eight when he hammered Raymond van Barneveld, who he used to imitate in front of the television as a three-year-old.
Littler continued his winning streak, cruising past Brendan Dolan 5-1 and finishing with an average of 101.93.
He came up against eighth seed Rob Cross in the final four, beating his fellow Englishman 6-2 in stunning fashion.
He bombarded the treble-20 16 times, produced three 130-plus checkouts and averaged 106.05 in a nerveless performance.
"The Nuke" faced Luke Humphries in the final, losing 7-4 in a thrilling match and becoming the youngest ever player to reach the final of the PDC World Darts Championship, aged just 16.
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