Littler introduces new darts audience amidst World Championship final loss

Local TV Sport

Luke Littler may have lost the World Darts Championship final to Luke Humphries, but his teenage underdog run to the final has captured a new audience to a once closed off sport.

Transcript

00:00 2024 is only a few days old, but already it has produced one of the most talked about

00:08 and anticipated sporting events in recent times. 16-year-old Luke Littler made the World

00:15 Darts Championship Final in his debut year and was to take on Luke Humphreys, the world

00:21 number one in the sport. On his way to the final, Littler had defeated former BDO World

00:27 Champion Christian Kist, former PDC World Champion Rob Cross and five-time PDC World

00:33 Champion Raymond Van Barneveld, who had been Littler's idol growing up. And with the eyes

00:39 of the sporting world watching, Littler and Humphreys took to the stage. After a fast

00:45 start from Humphreys, it was Littler who made the first big break, going 4-2 ahead in sets.

00:52 He had the chance to go 5-2 ahead, but missed it on the double-two with Humphreys coming

00:57 in to make it 4-3 in sets. This brought Humphreys back into contention and Littler knew he was

01:05 in trouble. The world number one showed just why he is at the top of the rankings and won

01:10 consecutive sets to go 6-4 ahead and within just one of claiming his first world championship.

01:19 Littler did have the chance to reduce the deficit to 6-5 and give himself an opportunity

01:23 at an unlikely comeback, but he twice missed the double-seven, allowing Humphreys three

01:29 match darts. He missed the first, but took the second and was crowned world champion.

01:35 He received applause from Littler and from the Alexandra Palace crowd as they were witnessing

01:40 the coronation of a new big name in darts. Luke Littler may not have won the world championship

01:51 at 16 years of age, but his teenage underdog story has certainly captured the imagination

01:56 of the country and helped to introduce a new audience to the sport of darts. Social media

02:02 was awash with his name as he progressed through the tournament, with posts popping up constantly

02:08 about the final as it was taking place. His youthful nature has opened the doors to a

02:13 sport that was once dominated by middle-aged men. At the Millhouse pub in Warrington, not

02:21 far from where Littler hails, soft drinks were an offer to reflect his youthful age.

02:27 Many were in attendance to see him take part in the World Darts Championship final, with

02:32 those in attendance highlighting a different demographic to the traditional audience that

02:37 darts has become accustomed to. They showed passion and excitement as the local lad went

02:43 toe-to-toe with the very best in the world of darts. Luke Littler will undoubtedly have

02:52 further opportunities in major competitions given his age, but he has certainly made a

02:57 name for himself in darts, a sport which he has quite possibly changed forever.

03:03 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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