Top favorite Luke Humphries stopped the fairytale rise of “child prodigy” Luke Littler at the Darts World Cup in London’s Alexandra Palace and was crowned world champion for the first time.
The 28-year-old Englishman beat his compatriot 7-4 in a high-class final on Wednesday (January 3, 2024) – and thus prevented the historic title storm of the only 16-year-old “Prince of the Palace”.
By reaching the final, Humphries had already reached the top of the world rankings for the first time in his career. Now he has gilded his impressive run of success in the “Ally Pally”. Littler, on the other hand, missed out on replacing Michael van Gerwen as the youngest Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) champion. The Dutchman triumphed in London in 2014 at the age of 24.
Humphries fights back tears
“I can’t put into words how great this feels,” said Humphries in his first reaction after rushing straight into his box and hugging his loved ones. Humphries fought back tears in the confetti shower.
Littler stood a little dazed on the largest darts stage in the world. The small version of the trophy for the runner-up was little consolation at that moment. “He will dominate darts, he is an incredible talent,” said the world champion about Littler.
“I’m second in my World Cup debut. That’s unbelievable,” said Littler, who showed greatness at the moment of defeat: “I lost too many legs when I threw. That was the only negative.”
Littler took the lead
The start to the final got off to a slow start for Littler. “The Nuke” weakened on the triple fields, Humphries grabbed the first set. But Littler put aside his nervousness. The youngster equalized with two high finishes – and took the lead for the first time in a duel at eye level with 3:2 sets.
Littler also secured the next three legs, but then Humphries stopped the run with the highest possible checkout (170 points). The match remained on a knife edge, Littler also checked 170. But the favorite had the better end, he used the second match dart to decide.
