Town 'can't wait' as Luke Littler gears up for final

Littler has won 10 senior titles on the Professional Darts Corporation tour in 2024

A town in the north west of England is simmering with excitement as one of its own gears up for the 2025 World Championship darts final.

Luke Littler, 17, from Warrington, will face Michael van Gerwen later, and excitement levels are high.

Littler's coach, Karl Holden, said it would be a "dream come true" if he won the final, adding "everybody can't wait".

Littler, who was crowned BBC's Young Sports Personality of the Year 2024 in December, has been coached by Karl Holden, from St Helens Darts Academy, since he was nine-years-old.

Karl Holden said to watch Littler "progress every year" had been a dream.

He told BBC Radio Manchester that Littler was "really up against it" going head to head with van Gerwen later but said he thought the young star was up for the challenge.

"Hopefully he can go that one better this year because I do believe he is better than last year," Mr Holden said.

"Everybody can't wait for it because I think them two are the two best players of this tournament.

"Every dart player has a dream to be world champion but I think I'm well past that stage now so I think for our committee, [at St Helens Darts Academy] it's a dream for us to produce a world champion, I don't think there can be a better feeling than that."

Luke Littler was crowned BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year in 2024

Littler, nicknamed 'Luke the Nuke', became a household name in 2023 when he became the youngest player to reach the World Darts Championship final in January at the age of 16.

A TV audience of around 3.7m tuned in to watch the teen in the final that year, where he lost by seven sets to four to world number one, Luke Humphries.

He beat Michael van Gerwen later in the same month to win the Bahrain Darts Masters and secure his first Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) senior title.

In the process, he has helped the profile of darts soar, with the number of junior academies doubling.

Google say he was the most searched-for athlete online in the UK during 2024.

"I have won plenty of titles leading up to this, that is what we do, we lead up to the big one, I can't wait for the final," Littler told BBC Sport.

The 2025 PDC World Darts Championship final takes place at Alexandra Palace, London, at 20:00 on 3 January, with updates on the BBC Sports website.