Luke Littler's fairytale ends as Luke Humphries claims World Championship glory

03 January 2024 , 22:01

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Luke Littler's fairytale came to an end in the final

Luke Humphries kept his incredible run going and ended the Luke Littler fairytale by claiming the World Darts Championship.

All the talk leading into Wednesday's nights showpiece was about the teenage sensation making yet more history but Humphries, who has just become the World No 1, put that to one side to claim another honour as his red hot form continued following victories in the Grand Prix and Grand Slam.

Humphries began with a bang but was then pegged back by the teenage sensation, who threatened to run away with the contest at one point. The 28-year-old's body language continued to tell a story, but his volume of 180s continued to keep him in the contest, helping him to his 7-4 victory.

Humphries claimed the first set as Littler began slowly as he had several trebleless visits to the oche. The teenager found his mojo after going behind, drawing himself back level in an instant. Humphries retook the lead before Littler won three sets on the bounce to go 4-2 ahead.

Littler has shown himself to be a relentless leader, often flying into the distance when he's put himself in front whilst at Ally Pally. He had a shot at double two to go three sets up but narrowly missed, which allowed Humphries to finish first time and cut the deficit to 4-3, which proved crucial.

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The new World No 1 then claimed the crucial eighth set to level the contest. Humphries kept up his momentum from the previous set, winning it with a shot at the bull, then registered a third set on the bounce as Littler threatened to retake the lead, only for Humphries to take out another big double to go 5-4 ahead.

Littler then found himself needing to win every remaining set as Humphries put himself 6-4 up with a fourth set on the bounce. The teenager did his utmost to keep the contest alive, but Humphries completed the job with a fifth successive set.

Littler said before the contest that he saw his final appearance as a "free hit", insisting his only plan when he first rocked up to Alexandra Palace was to win one match before he began his sensational run to the final.

Luke Humphries, the new World No 1, claimed World Darts Championship glory at Alexandra Palace

The youngster missed three darts to keep the game alive and told Sky Sports that blunder was a frustration: "Don't really know (what I've learned), every game has been really good, but that one really annoyed me, especially the three missed to keep it going, that's what the crowd wanted but fair play to Luke."

Humphries has been on a sensational run, which has taken him to the top of the rankings. He won several big tournaments in the lead up to Ally Pally and was favourite to claim victory, but joked that he felt Wednesday night was key with Littler threatening to dominate.

He said: "I honestly could not put into words how great this feels. Honestly in the back of my mind today I thought get this one know because he's going to dominate world darts. When I was on the brink of winning he was still relentless. I was really proud of the performance, felt a bit tired in the middle, but he's an incredible talent and I had to win this one tonight, he's going to win plenty.

Humphries went on to add: "To come back from 4-2, 4-3 4-4, then get in front. To reel off that incredible leg, I can't lie, that double eight my hand was shaking like mad, it was very fortunate. I'm world champion and World No 1. There was a time in my life where I was really depressed and didn't think this was going to be it for me, went through a lot of problems, but to be world champion proves a lot about my mental ability."

Samuel Meade