Luke Littler's historic streak ends in defeat at the World Darts Championship final

The 16-year-old from Warrington made history with win after win, but was ultimately bested by Luke Humphries in a best-of-11 sets match, with a final score of 7-4. Credit: PA

Luke "The Nuke" Littler's historic run from unknown player to potential champion has ended with a dramatic loss against Luke Humphries.

Despite the loss, he is still the youngest person to ever reach the final of the tournament, and only the second unseeded player to ever make it so far.

The 16-year-old from Warrington made history with win after win, but was ultimately bested by Luke Humphries in a best-of-11 sets match, with a final score of 7-4.

Both players were roughly on par with each other for the first half of the match, with similar averages and constant equalisers. However, Humphries eventually broke away from his opponent and took the win.

While Littler may have lost the match, he made his opponent work for the victory. Humphries came out strong winning the first set, but Littler quickly fought back with a 180 that saw him equalise.

However, Littler just couldn't carry the momentum entering the third set, with Humphries regaining the lead.

Luke the Nuke kept fighting, hitting straight back by breaking the world number one's throw and winning the fourth set to equalise once again.

A disappointed Littler after his missing throw results in him losing his third set. Credit: PA

Finally finding some momentum, Littler went on to win the next two sets and gain a comfortable lead.

But he couldn't relax for too long, with Humphries dominating the next two sets to equalise and winning a further three more and take the win at 7-4.

Humphries was officially ranked as the best player in the world after his semi-final victory, and with tonights victory (his 20th win in a row) he has cemented his place at the top.

Luke Littler faced Luke Humphries in a local pub competition in 2020. Credit: PDC Europe

While Littler may have missed out on the £500,000 cash prize, he'll still take home £200,000 as the tournament's runner up.

The teenager has rose from obscurity to national fame since his first win at the World Darts Championships, and has been credited with getting a whole new generation interested in the sport.

More than 250 media outlets from as far as China travelled to Alexandra Palace to cover the final, as the story of a 16-year-old darts player changing the game spread across the world.

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