Luke Littler ‘feels special’ to return to back-to-back World Darts Championships: ‘My name is on the shortlist’ | dart news

Luke Littler has welcomed the “special feeling” of joining a short list of players who have made back-to-back appearances at the World Darts Championship.

Littler defeated new Dutch No. 1 Gian van Veen in the final, winning seven straight sets to secure a 7-1 victory.

The win made him his fourth consecutive champion, joining Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis and Gary Anderson. He is also the first to do so since ‘Flying Scotland’ completed the feat in 2016.

What’s more, he has won the biggest prize in all of darts on several occasions, alongside Taylor, John Part, Lewis, Anderson, Michael van Gerwen and Peter Wright.

Littler said winning back-to-back titles for the first time in a decade was his main goal going into the tournament and he has now opened up about the fact he experienced a “special feeling” that not many people will experience in the sport.

In fact, I think he’ll get more experience if he continues to play the “non-stop” brand of darts while still “hunting” for the majors he wants to collect.

Littler currently holds World Championship, UK Open, World Match Play, World Grand Prix, Grand Slam and Players Championship titles, is world number one and the first winner of the Alexandra Palace prize money of £1m.

Only the World Masters and European Championships remain for him to complete major competitions.

“It’s an amazing feeling. It’s what dreams are made of. Everyone wants their first world title, but just to come back here and win it again and win it back-to-back feels great,” Littler said.

“There’s nothing that beats anyone’s first world title in any sport because it’s the first time they’ve done it, but this is just about maintaining it and bringing it home for 12 months and adding my name to the list of world champions in succession. It’s a very short list, but I’m on top of it.

“Sometimes on stage I’m unstoppable. I win games and I lose games. It’s darts. I don’t always win. But the World Championship is mine again.

“The next major is the World Masters at the end of January, but I haven’t been there yet. I’m planning to look for the other majors later this year.

“It’s a special feeling. It’s everything I wanted to do starting from the World Grand Prix and leading up to the World Championship.

“The £1 million is there, but it comes after the trophy. The trophy is always first, but my name is on that short list.”

‘I was expecting Gian to throw the kitchen sink at me’

Littler put in an incredible performance in the final with averages of 106.02, 16 180, 19 140, a 46% doubles success rate, 7 sets of spin and 147 checkouts, encapsulating his talents and sealing the win.

Van Veen was out of reach and the 18-year-old admitted he expected his opponents to throw more balls at him and that he would look for the level he did against Luke Humphries and Gary Anderson in the semi-finals and semi-finals respectively.

“I definitely played better after the first set. I just want to get started quickly. I don’t want my opponent to take a 1-0 lead on me,” he added.

“I always wanted to set that marker and set the bar in the game, but I couldn’t do that, but after that first one, it was just magical.

“If you play to an average of 106 points over eight sets, you will win nine times out of 10. “The first Premier League match against Michael van Gerwen last year was a truly magical match for both of us, and you will lose that match.

“Gian was always there. He missed a couple of doubles. He could have gone up 2-0 and everything would have changed. I would have been more frustrated.

“I expected Gian to throw the kitchen sink at me.”

A small shout out to the boos: the crowd has been with me ever since!

Littler faced challenges throughout this tournament. Namely, the boos that followed his comments following his four-round win over Rob Cross.

He appeared excited at various points and held several passionate celebrations during the eventful match, with Littler repeating the phrase ‘What now?’ In the stands after winning the final game of the 6th set.

After his win over Cross, Littler said to the crowd: “Do I care? Really, do I care?! I really don’t care!

“Can I just say one thing? You guys paid for the tickets and you guys gave me my prize money, so thank you, thank you for my money! Thank you for the boos. Thank you – come on!”

Littler was then booed by the crowd, but admitted he wanted them back on his side.

It’s a moment he feels has passed, because the audience has pretty much been with him ever since.

“Obviously they beat me, but I still won the game and I still made the quarterfinals,” Littler said.

“Everyone wants the crowd to be on their side. Since that happened, the crowd has been on my side in the quarterfinals, semifinals and tonight. I have a lot of respect for them. They paid a lot of money to support me this time.”

“I woke up this morning and there were a few nervous people. You could clearly see they were all saying, ‘Come on.’ At one point during the Rob Cross game, I looked over and they had their heads down.

“I said, ‘Keep your head down. If I’m watching and you keep your head down, that’s not going to help me.’ There wasn’t much to worry about tonight.”

What’s next?

The 2026 Premier League Darts line-up will be revealed live on Monday 5 January at 3.30pm. Sky Sports NewsThe competition format has not changed for this season.

The top four players on the PDC Order of Merit – Littler, Humphries, Van Veen and Van Gerwen – will join four wildcard picks to complete the line-up for the 16-week regular season across the UK and Europe. The top four will advance to Finals Night at The O2 in London.

Keep up to date with the 2026 darts schedule. you can alsoPlay darts and more top sports with NOW.