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Six months, Six wins: Luke Littler’s Stunning Debut Season

Ella Bebbington

Ella Bebbington

The world of darts changed at the World Darts Championship last December when 16-year-old Luke Littler made his championship debut on the Alexander Palace stage. 

The now 17-year-old continues to stun the world, earning title win after title win in the months that have followed. Six months, six wins. A triumph indeed.

January: Bahrain Masters

“Littler beat three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen”

Coming off the back of his World Darts Championship (WDC) debut, the championship finalist impressed the world with his first major title win at the Bahrain Masters.

Luke Littler succeeded in the first round against Man Lok Leung, beating the Hong Kongese player 6-3 in the best of 11 legs. This saw him advance into the quarter-finals, where he beat long-time friend and competitor Nathan Aspinall 6-3.

Going into the semi-final, Littler faced Gerwyn Price, who beat world number 1 Luke Humphries 6-4 in the quarter-finals, a shock exit for ‘Cool Hand Luke’. In the end, he beat Price 7-3.

As the final concluded, Littler beat three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen 7-6 in a last-leg finish to win the tournament and earn trophy number one.

February: PC 1

Players Championship 1, also known as PC 1, was the next step in Luke Littler’s darts journey.

After advancing to the finals of the competition, Littler faced Ryan Searle.

After an explosive game that ended in a last-leg throw to decide the winner, Littler ended in the most impressive way possible by hitting a 9-darter and beating Searle 8-7.

Not only this, but Littler averaged an astonishing 109.64 across the whole final game, a brilliant performance from the 17-year-old. This was the English player’s first PC 1 competition, and he walked away the winner on his debut in Wigan.

March: Belgian Open

The Belgian Darts Open took place between the 8th and 10th of March 2024. It featured 48 players, including defending champion Michael Van Gerwen and current world number one Luke Humphries.

Van Gerwen made a shock exit in the second round of the competition, losing 6-4 to Peter Wright. In the final, Littler faced Rob Cross.

“Littler prevailed yet again against his opponent in a last-leg throw”

In a tense final, Littler prevailed yet again against his opponent in a last-leg throw. He beat Cross 8-7 despite Cross having a higher overall average. Cross averaged 108.00, whilst Littler averaged 103.76.

April: Austrian Open

“Jonny Clayton, the defending champion, was knocked out in the third round…”

Following on from the Belgian Open, the Austrian Open was the next event on the PDC European tour.

Taking place between the 26th and 28th of April, 48 players faced off again, only for Littler to prevail and win his next trophy.

Jonny Clayton, the defending champion, was knocked out in the third round after being beaten 6-3 by Martin Schindler.

Littler beat Damon Heta and Ross Smith to reach the final, where he beat Joe Cullen 8-4 to claim victory.

May: Premier League

The Premier League, which took place between February 1st and May 23rd this year, saw a change in the table many times throughout. at different points in the competition, there were different leaders.

Michael van Gerwen, who started the competition strong with three back-to-back wins on nights two, three, and four, looked sure to win in the beginning. But as the weeks went on and his shoulder injury became worse, the Dutch player dropped below world number one Luke Humphries in the standings.

For weeks, there was uncertainty about who the clear winner would be, with wins being picked up by Humphries, Aspinall, Smith, and Littler as well. It wasn’t until Littler won on the night that he became the Premier League champions and qualified for next year’s tournament.

June: Poland Masters

The Poland Masters featured 16 players, made up of eight top-ranking players and 8 regional qualifiers.

The defending champion, Michael van Gerwen, who beat Dimitri Van den Bergh in the 2023 final, was knocked out in the semi-final after losing 7-2 to Rob Cross.

Littler, who had beaten former world number one Michael Smith in the semi-final, beat Cross 8-3 in the final to soar to his latest victory in the 2024 season.

This was a truly astonishing performance from the young English player, who continues his sensational debut season in professional darts.

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Featured image courtesy of Bastian on Flickr. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here. 

Ella is a Sports Editor for Empoword Journalism. Her favourite sport is F1 and is in her first year at university studying a sports journalism degree. In the future she hopes to be an F1 journalist.

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