Luke Littler sails into blockbuster world darts final with Michael van Gerwen
Share:
Deep down, we all knew this was going to happen at some point. From the moment Luke Littler stepped through the doors of Alexandra Palace in 2023 and started throwing darts from the gods, a countdown had begun that would ineluctably, irrevocably end with the Sid Waddell Trophy hoisted aloft in his arms.
![[Michael van Gerwen was rock solid as he beat Chris Dobey in the semi-finals at Alexandra Palace]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/811db52e7e3b5a52facd47e69e9c9fba72a20ab2/0_0_5400_3241/master/5400.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
And yet, with the moment potentially hours away, the thought of it still seems somehow unreal, illusory, transgressive. Darts is on the verge of a new age, a tectonic shift in its history, popularity and cultural footprint. Eric Bristow, Phil Taylor, Raymond van Barneveld, Michael van Gerwen: turns out this was the preamble. When the chroniclers of the future come to write the tale of this sport, they will recognise two eras: before Littler, and after.
It’s not only his talent, although the talent is otherworldly, and it’s not only his youth, although the youth is startling, and it’s not only the speed of his rise, as violent and concussive as this has been. In almost every aspect, this is a player rewriting the traditions and truisms of darts, rejecting everything we thought we knew about it.
That this a trade and not an art, a skill to be honed and hardened over years, not a kind of fully-formed perfection that emerges like a flawless debut album. That this apprenticeship is typically served in the pub, and very often liberally topped up in the practice room before the start of play.
That stagecraft – the process of commanding a wild and often hostile crowd – is the last and hardest of all the disciplines to master. That playing to the gallery will inevitably end in embarrassment. That you should really try and avoid leaving double 15 if you can possibly help it. That nobody wins the Premier League, the Grand Slam and the World Championship in their first full season in the sport. That nobody really cares about darts.
