LUKE LITTLER was serenaded at Minehead as he played for the first time as world No.1 – and there was a change to his walk-on to go with it.
The Nuke was elevated above rival Luke Humphries last week when he defeated his rival at the Grand Slam of Darts final in Wolverhampton.
He made it eight wins in a row across all tournaments by beating Jeffrey de Graaf at Butlins on Friday night and loved being called out as the new rankings topper.
He said: “It felt absolutely amazing. Probably one of the best feelings I’ve had.
“World champion and world No.1 at the same time. Hopefully there is more to come.”
That was the one subtle alteration made to to his now famous walk-on, but it made a big impact.
Littler still came out to Pitbull’s Greenlight and did so having been announced as world No.1.
Whilst he stood waiting to walk through the crowd and up to the oche and stage, he listened as the announcer said: “Firstly would you please welcome the global sensation.
“The World Matchplay winner, and the two-time Grand Slam champion.
“He is the reigning champion of the world and the NEW world number one, Luke ‘the Nuke’ Littler!”
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Upon hearing his name after ‘world number one‘ for the very first time, Littler set off backed by security.
Arms outstretched to touch hands with a few lucky fans, the teenager was warmly greeted.
He took the time to sign a few autographs on his way and strolled up in front of thousands of adoring supporters.
Clapping his hands and conducting the crowd to the chorus, Littler soaked up the moment.
He went on to make light work on De Graaf and had even more reason to celebrate afterwards because Humphries will head to Ally Pally next month off the back of an early exit here.
Two-time defending champion Cool Hand Luke – who has lost his past three major finals – was also defeated 6-5 by Gian van Veen in Minehead.
European champion Van Veen, 23, came from 3-0 behind and then 4-2 down to progress, though he only sealed it with his sixth match dart.
Humphries, 30, suffered a trapped nerve as he surrendered his No.1 spot to Luke Littler last weekend in Wolverhampton.
List of all-time Darts World Champions
BELOW is a list of darts world champions by year.
The list does not include winners from the pre-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) era or BDO world champions.
That means Raymond van Barneveld, for example, is only listed once – Barney also won four BDO titles – and none of Eric Bristow’s five BDO titles are included.
- 1994 – Dennis Priestley
- 1995 – Phil Taylor
- 1996 – Phil Taylor (2)
- 1997 – Phil Taylor (3)
- 1998 – Phil Taylor (4)
- 1999 – Phil Taylor (5)
- 2000 – Phil Taylor (6)
- 2001 – Phil Taylor (7)
- 2002 – Phil Taylor (8)
- 2003 – John Part
- 2004 – Phil Taylor (9)
- 2005 – Phil Taylor (10)
- 2006 – Phil Taylor (11)
- 2007 – Raymond van Barneveld
- 2008 – John Part (2)
- 2009 – Phil Taylor (12)
- 2010 – Phil Taylor (13)
- 2011 – Adrian Lewis
- 2012 – Adrian Lewis (2)
- 2013 – Phil Taylor (14)
- 2014 – Michael van Gerwen
- 2015 – Gary Anderson
- 2016 – Gary Anderson (2)
- 2017 – Michael van Gerwen (2)
- 2018 – Rob Cross
- 2019 – Michael van Gerwen (3)
- 2020 – Peter Wright
- 2021 – Gerwyn Price
- 2022 – Peter Wright (2)
- 2023 – Michael Smith
- 2024 – Luke Humphries
- 2025 – Luke Littler
Most World Titles
- 14 – Phil Taylor
- 3 – Michael van Gerwen
- 2 – John Part, Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright
- 1 – Dennis Priestley, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Luke Humphries, Luke Littler
And he will go to the World Championship following a first-round loss to Van Veen, who pulled off the same trick at the World Matchplay in July.
Littler, 18, moved into round two with a 104.46 average and now faces Ross Smith.
Speaking afterwards, he said: “Very happy. It definitely felt good.
“Didn’t get off to the best of starts but I kicked in and got the job done.
“A 67 checkout, that is the route to go for me, not many people would agree. But I love tops.
“Everything went well tonight. I was always going to go for the 27 and tops.”
He added that he’s keen to get the title under his belt: “Definitely, I fancy this.
“It’s a title that I have not won. I came short last year to Luke Humphries, so I am hungry to tick this one off.”
