After falling just short in his Alexandra Palace debut in 2024, darts prodigy Luke Littler surged to a once-unbelievable world championship victory at the age of 17 last year thanks to a 7-3 win over three-time champion Michael van Gerwen.
Now 18, Littler's rise shows few signs of slowing -- he has won a litany of titles and leapfrogged Luke Humphries at the top of the world rankings.
Littler has transformed darts and his dominance at such a young age has proffered the tantalising question of whether he might overhaul Phil Taylor's haul of 16 world titles.
He is looking to take one step closer towards completing the feat at this year's world championship where he is unsurprisingly the red-hot favourite with the bookmakers.
Luke Littler
D.O.B.: Jan. 21, 2007
Born: Warrington, Cheshire
Nickname: 'The Nuke'
Walk-on song: "Greenlight" -- Pitbull ft. Flo Rida and LunchMoney Lewis
PDC world ranking: No. 1
Darts sponsor: Target Darts
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What has Luke Littler won?
Littler is one of just five players in history to have completed what is referred to as a career triple crown -- winning the PDC World Darts Championship, World Matchplay and Premier League. Phil Taylor, Michael Van Gerwen, Gary Anderson and Luke Humphries are the only other players to have accomplished the feat.
Major televised PDC titles:
World Darts Championship (2025)
Premier League (2024)
World Series of Darts Finals (2024)
UK Open (2025)
World Matchplay (2025)
World Grand Prix (2025)
Grand Slam of Darts x2 (2024, 2025)
Players Championship Finals (2025)
Other titles:
World Series of Darts x4
European Tour x4
Players Championships x4
PDC World Youth Championship (2023)
Is there anything Luke Littler hasn't won?
While he is filling up the trophy cabinet rather quickly, Littler is still searching for a couple of major titles he needs to complete the set.
'The Nuke' has so far been unable to crack the World Masters -- Littler's best showing was this year's run to the quarterfinals where he came up short against Jonny Clayton.
He has also found things tough at the European Championship. He had hoped that victory at this year's tournament would see him reach the top of the world rankings for the first time, but a 10-7 second-round defeat to James Wade in Dortmund ensured he had to wait for the Grand Slam.
Littler's career low point perhaps came at the World Cup in June when the reigning world champion and his then-world No. 1 teammate Humphries were beaten 8-4 in their opening match of the tournament.
Luke Littler's other achievements
Awarded an MBE in King Charles' birthday honours list for services to darts
Became the youngest ever winner of the PDC World Darts Championship when he did so at the age of 17 years and 347 days
Set the record for the highest three-dart average in a world championship set when he registered a 140.01 average in the fourth and final set of his win over Ryan Meikle on Dec. 21, 2024
Was Google's most-searched athlete in the UK in 2024, topping the list ahead of Barcelona and Spain star Lamine Yamal, American gymnast Simone Biles and England and Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham
Awarded Honorary Citizenship of the Borough of Warrington in recognition of his World Darts Championship triumph and his "inspirational impact"
His hometown rugby league club, Warrington Wolves, renamed their stadium -- the Halliwell Jones Stadium -- as the Luke Littler Stadium in honour of his world championship victory
Check out the incredible career of darts sensation Luke Littler as he's awarded an MBE.
How many nine-darters has Luke Littler thrown?
Littler has seven in-competition nine-dart finishes in his career to date, with four coming in televised events. His most famous washis Premier League final triumph over Humphries in 2024, achieved via his favoured T20 x3; T20 x3; T20, T19, D12 route.
His last nine-darter came against Josh Rock in July's World Matchplay -- it was a leg that some argue is the greatest leg of darts ever played, owing to the fact that Rock also threw six perfect darts but did not get the chance to finish before 'The Nuke.'
PDC Order of Merit
Littler officially leapfrogged Humphries at the top of the rankings after winning the Grand Slam of Darts. They have both amassed earnings of more than double that of third-placed Van Gerwen.
ESPN's darts page has all the latest breaking news, features and reaction to the big moments during this year's PDC World Darts Championship.