Littler wins Grand Slam and secures world number one ranking

Luke Littler has now earned £1.85m over the past two years, overtaking his rival Luke Humphries

Luke Littler celebrated becoming world number one for the first time by beating Luke Humphries, the man he has surpassed, to win the Grand Slam of Darts with a 16-11 victory in Wolverhampton.

The world champion's 16-9 victory over the Netherlands' Danny Noppert in the semi-final meant he would overtake Humphries to top the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) world rankings regardless of the result of Sunday evening's final.

But Littler emphasised his ascension to the world darts summit as he surged to victory by winning 10 of the last 13 legs against his great rival to retain the title - and stay unbeaten in the Grand Slam.

At just 18, Littler is the youngest PDC world number one, surpassing Michael van Gerwen, who achieved the feat aged 24 in 2014.

"I am the best in the world, I can finally say it," Littler said after the final.

"World number one, you are the best in the world. To top it off by going back-to-back here makes it even more special.

"Now I'm number one, I'm hungry to stay there. I want to be there for the next few years.

"There's going to be a target on my back from Luke and all the other players. It's made me more hungry."

The final ebbed and flowed, with Littler quickly going 2-0 up before Humphries won four on the spin to lead 4-2.

Humphries retained the edge until a brilliant 167 checkout saw 'The Nuke' break back for 8-8.

The decisive moment came with Littler leading 10-9 when Humphries, well in control of the leg, chose to go for a 170 out, missed and then fluffed his set-up on his next visit.

That gave Littler a glimmer of hope with a 160 finish. He made no mistake to go 11-9 up and never looked back.

Littler's earnings over the two-year period that determine the Order of Merit totalled £1,770,500 after making the final, with his victory taking it up to £1,850,000.

As Humphries was defending the money he won from triumphing in this tournament in 2023, even if had he lifted the trophy again, he would have earned £1,769,000 - just short of his fellow Englishman.

The rankings are determined by the amount of prize money a player has won from ranking tournaments over a two-year period.

"Being world number one is some achievement for Luke Littler and doing it in less than two years is something remarkable," former BDO world champion Mark Webster told Sky Sports.

"He knows how to get it done. He doesn't have bad spells - he does lose in some tournaments and it will continue to happen - but he's just a brilliant talent."

In the semi-finals, Littler had to overcome a sluggish start of his own and a blistering one from Noppert and found himself 8-6 down.

However, just as he would in the final, he rallied in impressive style, winning 10 of the next 11 legs and ending with an average of 102.62 to complete his rise to the summit of world darts.

Humphries had clung on to the number one spot for a little longer with a magnificent display to beat Gerwyn Price 16-13 in an enthralling first semi-final.

The 2024 world champion averaged 106.25 and hit 16 180s - and with the rankings not officially updating until after the final, gave himself one more match as world number one.

'I am declaring war on him' – Humphries

Humphries beat Littler in the 2024 World Championship final

Despite losing his world number one status and another defeat by Littler, following his loss in the World Grand Prix final in October, Humphries was in bullish mood after the match.

With the start of the World Championships less than a month away, the 30-year-old is motivated to get himself back on top.

"I am going to win the Worlds," he told Sky Sports.

"I am declaring war on him. I'm playing good. Tiredness just crept in at the end there. We're going to go to war at the World Championships, we'll see who is the one there."

Asked if he thinks he and Littler are in a league of their own, Humphries added: "Yeah, I do. I don't feel arrogant saying that. What can us two do? We're on opposite sides of the draw and people can stop us.

"I am trying to stop him and I can't. It is up to everyone else to stop us. At the moment us two are playing a level of this sport that is better than everyone else.

"I want to play another world final against him."

But Littler was not going to back down from the challenge, and agreed that there is a sizeable gap between the world's top two and the rest.

"It definitely is war because if someone takes it off you then you want it back. You don't want to be second," he said.

"I think we are [in different league from the rest]. The finals show it, the stats show it and like Luke said, if everyone is getting bored of me and him then someone needs to stop us otherwise we're going to keep winning.

"One and two, we're going to meet in the final if we get past our opponents. Long may it continue.

"Me and Luke have sort of done the same in titles. Now I've got the number one spot and he wants it back. We're going to be battling even more, I think we're going to be playing well because obviously he wants it back and I don't want to give it away.

"You're going to see many more great games."