Who is Luke Littler? Sixteen-year-old World Darts Championship runner up

Luke Littler's fairytale run at the World Darts Championship has come to an end after the 16-year-old lost to England's Luke Humphries.

Littler, from Warrington in Cheshire, was hoping to become darts' youngest ever world champion.

He stormed his way to the final after remarkable run of matches.

His incredible story has been followed by millions of people this week as well as seeing Littler become a viral star on social media. He now has 719,000 followers on Instagram, including several top Premier League footballers.

Littler - who sat his GCSEs just six months ago - knocked out some of the sport's biggest stars in the tournament to make it to the finals, including five-time world champ Raymond van Barneveld and 2018 winner Rob Cross in the semi-finals.

But his winning run ended against world number one Luke Humphries in the final at London's Alexandra Palace on Wednesday evening.

World number one Luke Humphries beat teenager Luke Littler in the PDC World Darts Championshipfinals

Paying tribute to his teenage opponent, winner Humphries said: ""In the back of my mind throughout today, I was thinking 'get this one now because he's going to dominate world darts soon'. He's an incredible player. When I was on the brink of winning there, he was relentless."

Luke Littler climbed more than 130 places to number 32 in the world darts ranking over the tournament.

Speaking after the game, Littler was looking to the future: "I've got to the final, I might not get to another final for the next five to 10 years, we don't know, but I can say I'm a runner-up and now I just want to go and win it."

What's been the secret to Littler's success? Read on to find out more about the new darts sensation.

Who is Luke Littler?

At the age of 16, Littler is the youngest player to reach the final of the World Darts Championship, the biggest event in the sport.

He started playing darts when he was just 18 months old when his parents bought him a magnetic board.

He said: "There's a video on YouTube of me when I was 18 months in a nappy listening to Raymond van Barneveld's music and doing his celebrations.

"It's crazy watching myself at 18 months or two years old in a nappy, but it has all paid off."

Littler moved on to a big darts board when he was five and he has never looked back, winning lots of tournaments at all age levels. He is the current world youth champion and has claimed 12 adult titles already.

His rise to the top has been incredible.

Just two weeks ago, he made his debut at the world championships where the crowd sung "You've got school in the morning".

In the semi-final on Tuesday, they sung "Walking in a Littler wonderland".

He's a huge football fan - a Manchester United supporter - and has met several top Premier League players in the past week. He was even a guest at Tottenham when they played Bournemouth on Sunday, sitting alongside England's James Maddison.

Littler faces the cameras after beating Rob Cross to make the world final

What's been Littler's secret to success?

Would you believe omelettes and pizza?

Littler has kept to the same routine during the world championships - and that means eating the same food every day.

He said: "In the morning I'll go for my ham and cheese omelette and then come here, have a pizza and then prep on the board. That is what I've done every day."

He says he loves to finish the day with "a kebab and a can of Tango".

How much did he win?

While Littler missed out on the top prize of £500,000, he still earned £200,000 for reaching the final.

Not bad for someone who started the tournament ranked 164th in the world!

Runner-up on his debut, Littler said he looks forward to more chances to become the sport's youngest world champion

What has the impact been?

Adam McMillan, headteacher at Littler's former school Padgate Academy near Warrington, says lots of pupils have been inspired to take up darts.

He told the Guardian newspaper: "He's putting darts on the map at the moment but he's already done that here at the school.

"He's left such an incredible legacy at the school, lots of students have been inspired by him and gone on to be interested in darts.

"He's left his mark here but I think the wider impact will be seen in schools across the UK, we'll see some sort of legacy from all this."

What do you think of Luke Littler's achievements? Let us know in the comments section below.