Luke Littler, 17, WINS the World Darts Championship title and claims the £500,000 prize – as teenage sensation beats Michael van Gerwen 7-3 to change into the game’s youngest-ever champion

The lights of London’s terraced streets and its Canary Wharf tower blocks spread out below Alexandra Palace on its hilltop last night but none shone as brightly as the talent of the sporting prodigy who threw his way into sporting history in the mayhem of its West Hall.

Luke Littler captured the hearts of the nation last year when he came from nowhere as a 16-year-old 66-1 outsider to reach the final of the PDC World Darts Championship and announce himself as the greatest young talent the sport has ever seen.

Now, amid the mayhem of an Ally Pally night oblivious to the bitter cold outside, Littler went one better by humbling one of the best players ever to throw a dart and becoming, at 17, the youngest man ever to win the world title.

Littler, who threw 12 maximums, was mesmeric in the way he dismantled three-time former champion Michael van Gerwen, who held the previous record for the youngest world title winner at 24, and sealed an emphatic 7-3 triumph.

So darts has entered the age of Luke the Nuke and as he carries the sport to ever greater heights of popularity, his triumph here may also have established him as Britain’s most popular sportsman.

Sometimes, you attend an event where you feel you are at the centre of the sporting universe and that all eyes are watching. You get it at the Olympics and the football World Cup, at a Champions League final, at The Masters, at the Super Bowl.

In the past, with the greatest respect to Phil Taylor and Eric Bristow and Jocky Wilson and Van Gerwen and all the other greats of this sport, there has never quite been that feeling at a darts final. Last night, there was. Last night, it felt as if the world of sport was transfixed by the sight of a phenomenon working his magic.

Genius in any sport is box office and Littler’s victory over Van Gerwen has lifted it to a point in the public consciousness where it has never been higher. ‘Wow, wow, wow,’ Littler muttered to himself in his moment of victory just before 10pm and the watching millions echoed his words.

Last year, some were entitled to wonder whether Littler’s run to the final might be a fluke, a moment in time never to be repeated, an achievement akin, perhaps, to Emma Raducanu’s magnificent victory at the US Open in 2021.

Those doubters wondered if Littler would ever fly so high again but they got their answer here when Littler, who has won more than £1m in prize money in the last 12 months and picked up another £500,000 for this triumph, held aloft the Sid Waddell Trophy.

And so it turns out that Littler’s defeat to Luke Humphries in last year’s final was merely destiny delayed. Now, he bestrides British sport, his youth and his genius filling sports fans with the same excitement they felt when they saw a young Michael Owen, Tom Daley or Wayne Rooney.

Fans had begun streaming up the hill to the palace at its summit early in the evening. The arena, with its idiosyncratic mix of round tables, long trestle tables and conventional rows of seating, was packed to the gills with revellers in fancy dress and ready to party.

The sport has not deserted its core audience in the way that the top flight of English football has and so there are still happy echoes of roots in working men’s clubs and pubs and the raucous enjoyment of a night of competition. There is a stag night vibe to the evening.

The draw of Littler has accelerated and refined the idea that going to the darts is not just a sporting event but a cultural shift. It is a sport that has stayed true to itself and to the traditions of simpler times and whose popularity, because of that and Littler, is rocketing.

Darts has evolved but not dramatically. At a time when there is a backlash in sport and other areas of society against political correctness, darts has profited by remaining the same. If society was once tempted to disdain it, it is now seen by many as a kind of sanctuary.

Maybe once, when Leighton Rees, John Lowe, Eric Bristow and Jocky Wilson ruled the oche 40 years ago or more, the sport was too easily dismissed as snooker’s poor relation but that has changed hugely now and the demographic of the sport’s fans is widening.

Last year’s PDC final attracted more viewers to Sky Sports than any event in the channel’s 34-year history other than football and there is a sense that football’s move away from its traditions and its financial exploitation of its supporters has created a gap that darts is moving into.

Littler’s emergence has been at the kernel of darts’ gains in popularity. His youth and his charm and his down-to-earth attitude set him apart from Premier League footballers who increasingly seem to want to separate themselves from the public.

Even if the sport, and particularly this event, has a reputation for wild over-indulgence, Littler’s stardom is attracting more and more kids to darts. Littler does not drink, of course. He is not yet old enough to. Viewing figures, ticket sales and social media interest have all shot up.

‘There’s a Luke Littler on every estate in the UK – a 17-year-old who likes social media, computers, talking to his mates,” Matt Porter, the chief executive of the Professional Darts Corporation, said.

‘He’s a normal kid who loves darts and happens to be very good. You look at a 16 or 17-year-old who breaks through in Premier League football and they are immediately out of reach of the kid on the street. Luke’s not.”

At Christmas, it was predicted that more than 100,000 children would be bought the Littler-branded magnetic dartboards that have been flying off the shelves. They were the equivalent of cabbage-patch dolls.

Littler’s achievements have helped double the number of junior darts academies, led to plans to expand the World Championship and, inevitably, sparked interest in Saudi Arabia about appropriating another sport wholesale.

He is already regarded as a national treasure. Observations about his weight, made on breakfast television earlier this week, caused outrage amidst his fans and prompted a debate about fat-shaming. Offering criticism of Littler, however modest, is a risky business.

People love him because of his youth but mostly because of his authenticity. Phil Taylor, who won the world title an astonishing 16 times, said recently that he had been struck by Littler’s humility most of all.

‘He just plays his game,’ Taylor said. ‘He’s quiet as a mouse. Lovely company. Not motivated by prize money. He’s more interested in looking after his mother and father.’ Littler still lives with his parents, Anthony and Lisa, in Warrington.

Littler, throwing second, drew first blood in the final but it was a subdued, nervy start from both men. Van Gerwen, grimacing, missed chances to win the first leg and Littler broke him at the first opportunity. Littler took the second leg, too, but then missed doubles in the third leg, to let Van Gerwen get off the mark before Littler took the set 3-1.

Littler hit his stride in the second set. He nailed his first 180 and went to his favourite double 10 to take the set 3-0. Van Gerwen was already struggling to stay in touch with the whirlwind of Littler’s talent.

Van Gerwen missed three successive chances to take a two leg lead in the third set and Littler made him pay. He raced into a three set lead. Inevitably, it was another double 10 that clinched it.

It began to feel as if Littler was toying with Van Gerwen. Left with 70 to clinch the first leg of the fourth set, Littler hit the bullseye and then, of course, double 10. Littler showed he was human by missing double 16 twice to hand Van Gerwen the third leg but then clinched the set with yet another double 10.

Van Gerwen finally got a score on the board by closing out the fifth set in style with a 132 checkout that finished with a bullseye. It felt then as if it would be little more than a gesture to salvage some dignity.

Littler reacted to that reverse by throwing two 180s on his next two visits to the oche and even though Van Gerwen took the set to a deciding leg, Littler clinched it to move into a 5-1 lead.

Van Gerwen did his best to fight back and won two more sets but he could never get closer than within three sets of Littler, who closed it out nervelessly and cemented his place in the nation’s affections.