Luke Littler sent a stern message to rivals Luke Humphries and Michael van Gerwen after being crowned the 2024 World Series of Darts champion. On a night where he was at his sublime best, Littler dispatched of MVG 11-4 in his semi-final, setting up a clash with Michael Smith.
The 2023 world champion was hammered by the same scoreline, with Littler picking up his second major PDC title after winning the Premier League this year on his tournament debut.
Few can deny Littler merited his latest triumph, edging past Ross Smith (6-5) in the first round before impressing as he beat Raymond van Barneveld (6-4) and Chris Dobert (10-7) to make the final four.
Humphries, who exited the tournament in Amsterdam after a dramatic 10-9 quarter-final defeat to Van Gerwen, remains the world No.1. But afterwards, Littler was asked if he feels he’s currently the world’s best player.
“Probably over this weekend,” he replied, before outlining how good his form had been at the AFAS Live arena. “To average 103 over four or five matches, it has been really good and I’m proud of myself.”
In contrast, his two big rivals were erratic over the weekend, and produced an error-strewn last-eight clash which saw Van Gerwen miss nine match darts before finally sealing victory. But Littler also insisted he wouldn’t be getting complacent as the countdown to the next PDC World Championship in December begins.
“I’m very happy to win. To come here and win on my debut is a good feeling,” he added. “I’m playing well so I will go back home and practice even more. There is no time to sit about, it’s a busy winter coming up.
“Everyone wants to win everything but I’ve learned you can’t do that. I would like to win another major. I want the worlds as anyone else does but another major would mean the world.”
Littler, 17, also picked up £80,000 for being the eventual winner. This season’s event saw a record amount of prize money available for the 32 participants.
Littler only arrived in Netherlands ranked No. 22 in the world, but will be among the favourites at Ally Pally after his stunning debut last year. He embarked on a remarkable run to the final, where he was beaten by Humphries in an epic final.
The two have since developed an intense rivaly at the oche. They met again in the Premier League final, with Littler getting a measure of revenge for his defeat in London by prevailing 11-7.
