Littler Claims Grand Slam Title, Ascends to Fifth in Global Rankings

Luke Littler has amassed over £900,000 in prize money during 2024. The teenage sensation continued his remarkable inaugural professional year by securing the Grand Slam of Darts championship, overwhelming qualifier Martin Lukeman with a 16-3 victory in Wolverhampton. The 17-year-old initially found himself trailing 2-0 after his throw was broken in the second leg. However, he then embarked on an extraordinary run, winning 15 consecutive legs to establish a dominant 15-2 lead. Lukeman managed to interrupt Littler’s winning sequence, celebrating emphatically as the crowd cheered and sang for the world number 45, who had to win four qualifying matches just to enter the main tournament. Littler subsequently broke Lukeman’s throw in the 19th leg, thereby clinching the Eric Bristow trophy and his first major ranking title. He was serenaded during the warm-up, with the crowd singing ‘walking in a Littler wonderland’, and later issued an apology after cheers turned to boos when spectators realized he had thrown a 140 instead of a 180 in one visit. This triumph elevates Littler to fifth position in the PDC’s Order of Merit, a significant improvement from his 164th ranking a year ago. Littler receives £150,000 for winning the title, plus an additional £3,500 for winning his group, bringing his total prize money contributing to the two-year calculated Order of Merit to £558,500. He has also earned £355,000 from victories in the Premier League of Darts and World Series finals; however, these are invitational events and do not contribute to his official world 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 only the third player, after Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen, to achieve an average of over 100 in every match of a Grand Slam event. He concluded the final with an average of 107.08, which stands as the third highest in a Grand Slam final, along with an impressive 12 180s and 15 140s. Lukeman, who was the first qualifier to reach a Grand Slam final and began the tournament as a 150-1 outsider, was unable to match Littler’s formidable scoring power. During the initial 13 legs of Littler’s 15-leg winning streak, Lukeman had only one opportunity to attempt a finish, which occurred on an attempted 142 checkout. At the match’s conclusion, the two players embraced. Lukeman, who receives £70,000 for finishing as runner-up, expressed considerable praise for Littler and his positive impact on the sport during 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 held in 2007, took a deep breath before raising the trophy to the appreciative crowd. A broad smile followed, accompanied by a gesture to his family, as the darts sensation celebrated his 10th trophy win of 2024. While Littler won all his matches in the tournament, his journey to victory was not always straightforward. He trailed 8-4 in the second round against World Grand Prix winner Mike de Decker and faced deficits of 11-7 and 13-9 in the first-to-16 semi-final against Scotland’s Gary Anderson. He was also 15-14 down and a single leg away from elimination, but Littler broke Anderson’s throw and subsequently held his own to secure his place in the final. Littler’s first professional cycle will conclude with an appearance in next weekend’s Players Championships final (22-24 November). He is then scheduled to participate in the World Championships from 15 December, with the draw set to take place on 25 November. Following his Grand Slam victory, bookmakers have installed Littler as the favourite for the World Championships. Notably, the past two winners of the Grand Slam, Michael Smith and Luke Humphries, both went on to win the World Championships. Luke Littler celebrated his victory in the 2024 Premier League of Darts. **2023 Achievements:** * **3 March:** Made his senior debut at the 2023 UK Open, reaching the round of 64 and earning a PDC merit ranking. * **26 November:** Won the PDC World Youth Darts Championship final. * **17 December:** Retained the JDC World Darts Championship. * **20 December:** Achieved a win on his senior World Championship debut, defeating Dutchman Christian Kist with an average of 106.12. **2024 Achievements:** * **3 January:** Defeated former champions Raymond van Barneveld and Rob Cross en route to the World Championship final, where he lost 7-4 to Luke Humphries. * **19 January:** Hit his first televised nine-darter during his World Series darts debut against Nathan Aspinall. * **19 January:** Beat Michael van Gerwen to win the Bahrain Darts Masters, securing his first PDC senior title. * **12 February:** Hit a nine-darter against Michele Turetta and defeated Ryan Searle to win the PDC Players Championship final on debut. * **20 March:** Won the Belgian Darts Open, beating Cross in the final and hitting his third nine-darter of the year. * **18 April:** Won his first Premier League Darts night in Belfast, defeating Aspinall 6-4 in the final. He later secured wins in Manchester, Liverpool, and Aberdeen. * **28 April:** Won the Austrian Darts Open, beating Joe Cullen in the final. * **16 May:** Concluded the 2024 Premier League regular season by topping the table with a record-equalling 40 points. * **23 May:** Won the Premier League Darts title with an 11-7 victory over Luke Humphries, marking his first major PDC title. * **15 June:** Won the Poland Darts Masters, beating Cross in the final. * **15 September:** Won the World Series of Darts title with an 11-4 victory over Michael Smith. * **October:** Was knocked out of the Grand Prix in the first round by Cross, followed by an opening-round exit in the European Championship. * **17 November:** Won the Grand Slam of Darts on his first attempt, moving into the top five in the world rankings.