Moment to haunt 16yo freak as dream shattered in epic darts final

High drama has struck the World Darts Championship final with teen sensation Luke Littler letting history slip through his fingers.

Luke Littler missed it by this much. Photo: Fox Sports and Getty, Tom Dulat.

High drama has struck the World Darts Championship final with teen sensation Luke Littler letting history slip through his fingers.

The 16-year-old freak’s dream was shattered by Luke Humphries in Thursday morning’s PDC final at the Alexandra Palace in London.

Littler, who has become a household name in the UK for his stunning run, had been in sublime form as he cruised to a 6-2 victory over 2018 champion Rob Cross in Wednesday morning’s semi-final.

Stream Over 50 Sports Live & On-Demand with Kayo. New to Kayo? Start Your Free Trial Today >

And victory on Thursday would have broken all the records.

Instead, he will walk away haunted by a moment where he could have taken a 5-2 set lead.

Instead, Humphries showed his class to recover from 4-2 down and went on to be crowned champion seven sets to four.

Luke Humphries of England reacts after winning. Photo by Tom Dulat/Getty Images.

Luke Littler missed his chance. Photo by Tom Dulat/Getty Images.

In a tight 11th set, Littler had two darts to turn the rollercoaster match on its head again, but couldn’t land the double-seven he needed.

Humphries stepped up next and nailed the double eight needed to take the title.

He sunk to his knees immediately after the final dart before hugging Littler on stage.

“This is class,” Sky Sports’ Wayne Mardle said.

“A word for Luke Littler - he has set alight the world of darts, the world of social media and Luke Littler has proven time and time again that he has got it. He will win world titles.”

Humphries walks away with $930,000 while, Littler leaves with almost $400,000.

Both of them were sheer class after the match.

“I cannot put into words how great this feels,” Humphries said.

“In the back of my mind throughout today I was thinking ‘get this one now because he [Littler] is going to dominate world darts soon!’

He’s an incredible player and when I was on the brink of winning he was so relentless. I was really proud of the performance there.

“He’s an incredible talent and I had to win this one tonight and he’s going to win plenty I’m sure.”

Littler said: “It has been unbelievable. The one negative was I lost too many legs with my throw so Luke could break me.

Runner-up Luke Littler of England celebrates with the runner-up troph. Photo by Tom Dulat/Getty Images.

“That was the only negative, I just couldn’t hold my own throw and I didn’t win.

“Every game has been good but that one has just really annoyed me, especially the three missed to keep it going.

“That’s what the crowd wanted but fair play to Luke, he deserves it.”

The biggest moment of the match came in the seventh set when Littler faltered for the first time.

Littler showed his age when looking flustered while shooting for the double-2 needed to take the set.

For the first time in the match Littler needed a moment to compose himself before the dart, but missed the board with his throw.

Humphries pounced with his next dart and sudenly it was 4-3.

Sky Sport commentator Wayne Mardle said it was a set of “absolute carnage”.

8.15am — Littler makes Humphries pay, stuns world

Luke the Nuke is punishing an out-of-sorts Luke Humphries and suddenly leads 4-2.

Littler has won four of the past five sets and appears to be flying.

He took the fifth set 3-0 with Humphries struggling to find doubles.

“He [Humphries] lost it! Everything about his throw there just went south,” Sky Sports’ Wayne Mardle said.

“Look at the venom from the last dart by Littler — that’s just punishment of the highest order.”

Humphries struggled even more in the sixth set.

“You’ve got to be more settled than that,” Mardle said.

“He was just flummoxed wasn’t he. Of course, the D18 could have easily gone in, but he was so unsettled. You could literally see that he wasn’t throwing properly.

“He should be shaking his head. That was poor by Luke Humphries and he knows it.”

7.45am — Humphries takes early lead

The new World No. 1 stormed through the first set three legs to one.

Humphries strolled off the stage after the opening set while Littler stayed at the board throwing some practice dats after a slow start.

It clearly worked with Littler taking the second set.

Humphries found his rhythm again in a tight third set taking it three legs to two.

Littler even had two darts to take a 2-1 sets lead, but was unable to capitalise.

“This is brital darts already,” one TV commentator said.

6.45am — Littler’s private life causes a stir

When Luke Littler saw off Brendan Dolan to book his place in the World Darts Championship semi-finals, a warm embrace with his girlfriend was captured on TV cameras.

Sky Sports crews zoomed in on the darts wonderkid kissing Eloise Milburn, after his incredible display.

Eloise Milburn is Luke Littler's girlfriend.

Five years Littler’s senior, the beauty consultant had been keeping a low profile until that moment, The Sun reports.

But she has since been elevated into the limelight following her passionate kiss with the most talked about sports star on the planet right now.

6am — Darts final ‘bigger than Ashes’

The 2024 PDC World Championship final has instantly become one of the biggest events to unfold in the UK in recent years.

BREAKING..the record viewership for darts was 1.65m for Taylor v Anderson in 2015 Last night Littler v Cross smashed the record with 2.32m audience! Bigger than the Ashes, bigger than the Ryder Cup let’s break 3m tonight for the final @OfficialPDC 🔥 🎯

— Eddie Hearn (@EddieHearn) January 3, 2024

Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, who is chairman of the PDC, posted on Twitter on Thursday the final will blow all records away for the biggest darts event of all time.

Hearn wrote Littler’s semi-final smashed recent viewing numbers in the UK during the 2023 Ashes series.