What Luke Littler did on his 18th birthday says it all about darts sensation

Luke Littler turned 18 on Tuesday and celebrated his birthday in a very down-to-earth manner – opting for a couple of games of bowling with his friends rather than partying in style

Luke Littler celebrated his 18th birthday in a refreshingly normal fashion – by hitting the bowling lanes with his mates.

Despite being crowned the youngest-ever world champion in darts earlier this month, Littler is determined to stay grounded. And that showed with what he did as he officially became an adult on Tuesday (January 21).

He shared his low-key birthday experience with Online Darts, explaining: “Yeah, it was good. Went bowling with a few of my friends. Didn’t play the best, but it was just good to get out and celebrate.”

Before he went bowling, it appears that Littler enjoyed a classic chippy dinner, as his dad was caught on camera fetching food from Castlerise Fish and Chips while the young star was live-streaming FIFA to his TikTok followers. When asked about his father’s fish and chips run, Littler said: “Yeah, it was weird obviously.

“Surely they know that I’m going to go out, but obviously before that I was on TikTok playing my FIFA in front of like 4,000 people. So obviously they thought I was staying in for the night, but unlucky for them, I went out.”

Unlike some of the more extravagant 18th birthday bashes thrown by celebrities and sports stars, Littler’s modest celebration highlights just how down-to-earth he remains amidst his meteoric rise in the darting world. For instance, pop star Justin Bieber marked his 18th birthday with a lavish bash at the Beverley Wilshire Hotel, rubbing shoulders with celebs like Kim Kardashian and Mike Tyson.

Meanwhile, AC Milan’s Alvaro Morata reportedly spent his special day with football legend Ronaldo Nazario. ‘The Nuke’ has been making waves in the world of darts over the past year, first turning heads at the 2024 PDC World Championship, where he entered as a 66/1 outsider and astonishingly made it to the final.

Despite losing out to PDC world no. 1 Luke Humphries 7-4 in the championship decider, Littler’s impressive run, which included victories over big names like Raymond van Barneveld and Rob Cross, laid a solid foundation for his 2024 season.

‘The Nuke’ went on to clinch the Bahrain Masters in January, stormed through February’s Players Championship, bagged the Belgian Darts Open title in March, and continued his trophy haul with wins at the Premier League, Austrian Darts Open, Poland Darts Masters, the World Series and the Grand Slam of Darts.

Littler made darts history by becoming the youngest-ever winner of the PDC World Championship at just 17 years and 347 days old, triumphing on his second attempt. Kicking off his remarkable campaign, he knocked out Ryan Meikle with a 3-1 victory, then demolished Ian White 4-1, narrowly edged past Ryan Joyce 4-3, and overcame Nathan Aspinall 5-2 to reach the semi-finals.

Securing his place in the final, Littler breezed past Stephen Bunting with an authoritative 6-1 win. The teenage darting marvel concluded his epic journey by defeating three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen 7-3.

After his win, an elated Littler said: “Everyone dreams of lifting this trophy, but you’ve got to get through a tough field. Even before qualifying. But yeah, I can’t believe it.”

After being ousted from the Bahrain Darts Masters during the quarter-finals by Gerwyn Price earlier this month, Littler bounced back at the Dutch Darts Masters on Friday (January 24), claiming a 6-4 win over Dimitri van den Bergh. In tonight’s (January 25) electrifying match-up, he’ll face Van Gerwen again in a much-anticipated rematch of the world final.