Littler wins Grand Slam to go fifth in world rankings

Teenager Luke Littler continued his sensational maiden professional year by winning the Grand Slam of Darts with a 16-3 thrashing of qualifier Martin Lukeman in Wolverhampton.

The 17-year-old trailed 2-0 after his throw was broken in the second leg but then won an incredible 15 legs on the spin to lead 15-2.

Lukeman broke the sequence and celebrated emphatically, with the crowd cheering and singing for the world number 45, who had to win four qualifying games just to reach the tournament proper.

Littler then broke Lukeman's throw in the 19th leg to win the Eric Bristow trophy and his first major ranking title.

He was serenaded in the warm-up - the crowd singing 'walking in a Littler wonderland' - and offered an apology after cheers turned to boos when spectators realised he had thrown 140 rather than 180 in one visit.

The win sees Littler move to fifth place in the PDC's Order of Merit, having been ranked 164 a year ago.

Littler takes home £150,000 for winning the title, plus £3,500 for winning this group, taking his prize money to £558,500 for the Order of Merit, which is calculated over a two-year period.

He has picked up £355,000 for winning the Premier League of Darts and World Series finals but, as those are invitational events, they do not count towards the rankings.

"I'm so glad to win it. I've been playing well all week. It's been a long week but it's paid off," Littler told Sky Sports.

"This is one of the ones I wanted to win. My major record isn't the best but I just wanted to go deep. Obviously, it's even better now I've won it and it shows I'm still here."

Littler becomes just the third player, after Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen, to average over 100 in every match of a Grand Slam.

He finished with an average of 107.08 - the third highest in a Grand Slam final - and a breathtaking 12 180s and another 15 140s.

Lukeman, who was the first qualifier to reach a Grand Slam final and started the tournament as a 150-1 shot, could not match Littler’s scoring power.

During the first 13 legs of Littler’s 15 in a row, Lukeman only had one dart at a finish and that came on an attempted 142 checkout.

The pair embraced at the end, with Lukeman, who wins £70,000 for finishing second, full of praise for Littler and his impact on the sport in his post-match interview.

"He [Littler] is just different gravy. He's brilliant, isn't he?" Lukeman said to Sky Sports.

"He's done great for the PDC, great for the sport, bringing loads of new fans and sponsorships."

Littler, who was only 10 months old when the first Grand Slam event was played in 2007, took a deep breath before raising the trophy to the crowd.

A huge smile followed and a gesture to his family as the darts sensation revelled in his 10th trophy of 2024.

Littler won all of his matches in the tournament but has not had it all his own way. He trailed 8-4 in the second round to World Grand Prix winner Mike de Decker and was 11-7 and 13-9 down in the first-to-16 semi-final against Scotland’s Gary Anderson.

He was also 15-14 down and a leg away from an exit, but Littler broke Anderson's throw and then held on to secure his final place.

An appearance in next weekend's Players Championships final (22-24 November) will conclude Littler's first cycle as a professional.

He will then take part in the World Championships from 15 December, with the draw scheduled to take place on 25 November.

Littler, who finished runner-up on his debut last year, has been installed as the favourite by bookmakers after winning the Grand Slam.

The past two winners of the Grand Slam - Michael Smith and Luke Humphries - have gone on to win the World Championships.

2023

3 March: Made senior debut at 2023 UK Open, reaching the round of 64, earning a PDC merit ranking

26 November: Won the PDC World Youth Darts Championship final

17 December: Retained JDC World Darts Championship

20 December: Wins on senior World Championship debut, beating Dutchman Christian Kist, averaging 106.12

2024

3 January: Beats former champions Raymond van Barneveld and Rob Cross on his way to reaching the World Championship final, where he lost 7-4 to Luke Humphries in final

19 January: Hits first televised nine-darter during World Series darts debut against Nathan Aspinall

19 January: Beats Michael van Gerwen to win Bahrain Darts Masters and earn his first PDC senior title

12 February: Hits a nine-darter against Michele Turetta and beats Ryan Searle to win PDC Players Championship final on debut

20 March: Wins Belgian Darts Open, beating Cross in the final, hitting his third nine-darter of the year

18 April: Won first Premier League Darts night in Belfast, beating Aspinall 6-4 in the final. Later went on to win in Manchester, Liverpool and Aberdeen

28 April: Wins the Austrian Darts Open, beating Joe Cullen in final

16 May: Ended the 2024 Premier League regular season with a record-equalling 40 points to top table

23 May: Wins the Premier League Darts title with an 11-7 win over Luke Humphries for his first major PDC title

15 June: Wins Poland Darts Masters, beating Cross in final

15 September: Wins the World Series of Darts title, with a 11-4 win over Michael Smith

October: Knocked out of Grand Prix in first round by Cross before an opening-round exit in the European Championship

17 November: Wins Grand Slam of Darts at first attempt to move into top five in world