Luke Littler has revealed he will ‘never say’ that he’s the best player in the world after his electrifying World Darts Championship final win over Michael van Gerwen on Friday night.
The prodigy won 7-3 at Alexandra Palace to become the youngest world champion in history, with Van Gerwen left reeling by his rival.
Littler has now risen to No 2 in the PDC Order of Merit following his triumph, which came a year after he’d lost to Luke Humphries in the final of the same competition.
There’s a sense that he’s the best player on the planet these days, however, after a brilliant year that has seen him earn over £1.4million in prize money.
Luke Littler has revealed he will ‘never say’ that he’s the best player in the world after his electrifying World Darts Championship final win over Michael van Gerwen on Friday night
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Littler was asked if he’s the greatest darts player in the world in his post-match press conference on Friday night.
But the darts star refused to take the bait and insisted he would always stay grounded, no matter what the stats say.
“I won’t say I’m the best,” he said.
“Maybe stats wise I might be the best, but I’ll never say it.”
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Littler is keen to stay humble, despite everything he’s achieved both inside and outside of darts over the past year.
He admits that he’d like to win more than 10 titles in 2025, though acknowledges that he’ll be happy if he simply keeps trying his best.
“I’ll just try and win as many titles as I can this year,” he added.
“I won 10 last year, I’ve started the year off with one, but maybe try to add on to the 10 – maybe win 11 or 12 or even more.
“For myself, [this victory] it’s at the top. It has to be.
“I’ve said previously that the nine-darter in the Premier League Final against Luke Humphries was the best, but this couldn’t be topped if I won five Premier Leagues, five World matchplays.
“The world title is the best feeling ever.”
While Littler has been celebrating his victory in the short time since, Van Gerwen will head back to the drawing board as a wounded animal.
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Luke Littler is staying humble in the wake of his victory over Michael van Gerwen in the final of the World Darts Championship on Friday night
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The Dutchman had been hoping to become a four-time world champion in north London but was simply blown away in Friday’s final.
Van Gerwen has battled for consistency over the past year or so, though displayed some of his old quality as he made the final.
And Littler thinks his beaten opponent deserves ‘respect’ for reaching the final.
He said: “He deserves quite a lot of respect for this world championships.
Luke Littler feels Michael van Gerwen deserves ‘respect’ for making the final of the World Darts Championship
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“Everyone was looking at me and Luke Humphries, but to look at Michael’s side of the draw it wasn’t easy.
“And it wasn’t easy for myself. So for us two to get to the final it was a big achievement and for me to come through as the winner it’s even better.”