Luke Littler on ‘special feeling’ of going back to back at World Darts Championship: ‘My name is on that short list’ | Darts News

Luke Littler has hailed the “special feeling” of joining an illustrious and short list of players who have gone back to back at the World Darts Championship.

Littler thrashed new Dutch No 1 Gian van Veen in the final, reeling off seven sets in a row on the way to securing a 7-1 victory.

That win saw him become just the fourth back-to-back champion alongside Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis and Gary Anderson. He is also the first since ‘The Flying Scotsman’ completed the feat back in 2016.

Not only that, he joins just Taylor, John Part, Lewis, Anderson, Michael van Gerwen and Peter Wright in having won the biggest prize in all of darts on more than one occasion.

Littler had been open about the fact that being the first person to go back to back in a decade was his primary target heading into the tournament and now he has experienced the “special feeling” that not many in the sport will ever get to experience.

Indeed, it feels he will experience it many more times if he continues to play his “unstoppable” brand of darts while “hunting down” the majors he still wants to collect.

Littler is also now the holder of the World Championship, UK Open, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, Grand Slam and the Players Championship titles, is the world No 1, and the first winner of the £1m prize for winning at Alexandra Palace.

Just the World Masters and European Championship are left for him to complete the majors haul.

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

“Nothing will ever beat a first world title for anyone, in any sport, because that’s the first time you’ve done it. But this was just all about retaining it, bringing it back home with me for 12 months and adding my name to the list of world champions to go back to back. It’s a very short list, but I’m on it.

“On stage at times, I am unstoppable. I win games, I lose games. It’s darts, you don’t always win. But the World Championship is mine again.

“The next major is the World Masters at the end of January which I haven’t got yet. The other majors later on in the year, I’ll be hunting them down.

“It’s a special feeling. It’s all I’ve wanted to do since the World Grand Prix, leading up to the Worlds.

“The million quid, it’s there, but it comes after the trophy. The trophy’s always first. But my name’s on that short list.”

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

Littler put on a sensational display in the final with a 106.02 average, 16 180s, 19 140s, a 46 per cent success rate on the doubles, seven sets on the spin and a 147 checkout to seal the win summing up the talent he is.

It was a level that Van Veen just could not keep up with, with the 18-year-old admitting he expected his opponent to throw more at him and find the levels he did against Luke Humphries and Gary Anderson in the quarter and semi-finals respectively.

“I definitely played better after that first set. I just want to get off to a quick start. I don’t want my opponent going 1-0 up on me,” he added.

“I always want to set that marker in the game, set the standards, but I couldn’t do that. But, after that first set, it was just magic.

“If you’re playing 106 average over eight sets, nine times out of 10 you’re going to win. The first Premier League game last year against Michael van Gerwen, that was absolutely magic from both of us, and that’s games you’re going to lose.

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

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

Littler on the boos: The crowd have been with me since then!

Littler has faced challenges throughout this tournament, namely the booing that came following his comments after his fourth-round victory over Rob Cross.

He had appeared agitated at various points and offered multiple passionate celebrations during an eventful match, with Littler repeating the phrase ‘what now?’ at the crowd after completing his win in the final leg of the sixth set.

After clinching the win over Cross, Littler turned to the crowd and said: “Am I bothered? Really, am I bothered?! Really not bothered!

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

Following that, Littler faced some boos from the crowd but then admitted he wanted them back on his side.

It is a moment that he feels has passed since the crowd have been pretty much with him since then.

“Obviously they turned on me, but I still won my match, I still progressed to the quarter-finals,” Littler said.

“Anyone wants the crowd on their side. Ever since that happened, the crowd had been on my side, quarter-finals, semi-finals and tonight, so big respect to them. They paid their good money to cheer me on this time.

“There were a few nervous people this morning when I woke up. Obviously when you look over, they’re all saying, ‘come on’. At one point in the Rob Cross game, I looked over and all their heads were down.

“I said, ‘keep your heads up because if I’m looking over and your head’s down, that’s not going to help me’. There wasn’t too much to worry about tonight.”

What’s next?

The Premier League Darts line-up 2026 will be revealed on Monday January 5 at 3.30pm, live on Sky Sports News, with the format of the competition unchanged this season.

The top four from the PDC Order of Merit – Littler, Humphries, Van Veen and Van Gerwen – will be joined by four wild-card picks to complete the line-up for a 16-week regular season, played across the UK and Europe, with the top four in the standings then progressing to Finals Night at The O2 in London.

Keep up to date with the 2026 Darts schedule. You can also stream darts and more top sport with NOW.