Luke Littler won yet another darts title after claiming his first ever UK Opens triumph after a thumping 11-2 win over James Wade – and now he is bidding to overtake rival Luke Humphries as world No 1
Luke Littler believes he is closing in on the world No.1 spot after landing his fifth TV major crown in 10 months.
Fired up by his beloved Manchester United ’s FA Cup exit on Sunday evening, Luke the Nuke stormed to the Ladbrokes UK Open title in Minehead as the bottom fell out of rejuvenated James Wade’s fairytale run to the final.
Littler’s crushing 11-2 win against the ‘Machine’ earned the former boy wonder another £110,000 pocket money, topping up his aggregate prize money to nearly £1.25 million on the Professional Darts Corporation order of merit.
The charts are based on prize money won in ranking tournaments over a two-year period – so they don’t even include Littler’s £315,000 loot from winning the invitational Premier League last May.
Now he has current No.1 Luke Humphries in his sights – and his UK Open tournament average of 104.35, with 47 maximum 180s scattered across his six matches like shrapnel, confirmed he is in the form to reach the summit.
Littler, 18, said: “At the World Championship, Luke will be defending a hell of a lot of money, and if he doesn’t defend it, that could be my chance to shoot up to No.1. Obviously if I play him in ranking events, I want to stop him from defending his prize money. I think No.1 is in sight now. When Luke went out in the quarter-finals here, everyone probably thought, ‘Littler’s going to win it now’ but I still had a job to do.
“As I have said many times, I want to win every major at least once, so that’s another one ticked off my list, and now I can focus on the Premier League in Brighton on Thursday.”
Although he has not always had the results to show for it, Littler’s performance levels have not dipped since he conquered Ally Pally in January. He learned, during the second interval of his semi-final win against Jonny Clayton in Minehead, of United’s defeat by Fulham on penalties.
Littler admitted it “spurred me on” to win the tournament known as the FA Cup of darts, and he has surprised even himself by maintaining such wrecking-ball standards of demolition.
He said: “Am I surprising myself? Yes, I’m still gaining experience on stage – I played in everything last year, it’s only my second year on the Tour and sometimes I do surprise myself the way I go for finishes but that comes down to confidence. I can feel the players around me (in the rankings) don’t want to draw me and I’ll play anyone. Once you win one title, you’re hungry for more, you want to win everything.”
Three-times UK Open champion Wade, moving uncomfortably on stage in his first major final since 2021, routed Josh Rock in the semis but he was beaten by the same score when Littler cut loose. Wade climbed to No.12 in the order of merit, with Humphries staying out in front in £1.89 million at the top.