Luke Littler was unflappable at the oche in a dominant victory over Michael van Gerwen to secure a first World Darts Championship win aged just 17.
But his unerring accuracy hitting one particular double has set social media alight with a wave of memes.
The Nuke beat his Dutch rival 7-3 to complete a remarkable run to the top of the sport, which saw him see off the likes of Stephen Bunting and Nathan Aspinall at Alexandra Palace.
Littler averaged a little over 102 and threw 12 180s in an imperious display in London.
In doing so, he smashed van Gerwen’s record of being the youngest ever world champion. Comfortably so – the Green Machine was a comparatively elderly 24 years of age when he clinched victory in 2014 against Peter Wright.
The Warrington-born wonderkid was efficient on every double during the final, landing 56 per cent of his attempts, but his near-perfect record landing double-10 did not go unnoticed among darts fans online.
Luke Littler was unflappable at the oche in a dominant victory over Michael van Gerwen
But his unerring accuracy hitting one particular double has set social media alight with a wave of memes
The Green Machine just did not turn up at Ally Pally and was left ruing a fourth final defeat
Some compared his amazing habit of securing the double to Arjen Robben’s incredible success cutting in from the right wing in football, while others pointed out how van Gerwen must feel when seeing him leave 20 on the board.
Littler often prefers double-10 to other areas of the board, but he wrapped up his record-breaking victory by slotting home a double-16.
During the contest, Sky Sports commentator Dan Dawson summed it up by saying: ‘It’s a cheat code for Luke Littler tonight, that double 10.’
The reliable spot in the right-hand corner of the board got Littler off to a flier in what proved to be the final set, leaving him just two legs from glory.
The Van Gerwen and Littler rivalry may have only begun in early 2024, but watching the pair collide in top competition has become box office stuff over the course of the last 12 months.
The pair had met on 12 occasions since their first match at the Bahrain Masters in January, with both coming out on top six times each.
Littler has had the better of their recent clashes, beating the Dutchman in the World Series of Darts semi-finals and at the European Tour.
After the encounter, the teenage sensation broke down in tears and shared a touching moment with van Gerwen, malware with the pair congratulating one another.
Luke Littler when he leaves the Double 10 website
— zäc🧛🏿♂️ (@ModernWrighty) January 3, 2025
Luke Littler when he sees a double ten checkout pic.twitter.com/j6x849BJv8
— Jacob (@JacobHorsfall_) January 3, 2025
Luke Littler double 10 pic.twitter.com/I7Jzm5W6SV
— Out of Context Football Manager (@nocontextfm1) January 3, 2025
MVG seeing littler on a double 10 pic.twitter.com/ML3Qzgoq5L
— CHIPFAT (@CHIPFAT_) January 3, 2025
The teenage sensation added the finishing touch to a remarkable year which began with his Alexandra Palace final against Luke Humphries – where he lost 7-4 – and featured wins in Bahrain, Austria, Belgium and Poland to earn £1million in prize money.
He scooped up the PDC Premier League title earlier in 2024 before lifting the Grand Slam and World Series of Darts Finals trophies as he continued to impress on the oche.
One thing Littler might rue was the lack of a nine-darter, with the 17-year-old heaping pressure on himself all tournament to achieve the impressive feat, the quickest way to win a leg of darts.
He said last week after his victory over Ryan Joyce: ‘A few of the legs I started off with a 177 and just thought, “there’s a treble 19 out the way!” Obviously I don’t end the year with five nine-darters but hopefully I can start the year off strong and get a nine for everyone.;
He has shot four already this year, which is a Professional Dart Corportation record he shares with Gerwyn Price and van Gerwen.
Michael van GerwenLuke Littler
