Luke Littler is on the verge of making history in the Premier League of Darts, as he is guaranteed to go into the Premier League play-offs at the 02 Arena on May 29 in pole position for the second year running.
Littler, 18, is no stranger to breaking records. He became the youngest ever world champion at just 17, beating the former record-holder Michael van Gerwen in the final, who was 24 at his first triumph.
The sensation also became the youngest player to hit a televised nine-darter at the age of 16 and has the highest set average in a World Championship game at 140.91.
In the Premier League this year, where we have seen some of The Nuke’s best darts, he broke his own record of the most amount of 180s thrown in a single Premier League season and has a record five nightly wins, despite the season still not being over.
Luke Littler celebrated his record fifth nightly win in week 13 in Birmingham
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The list of records is near-endless, and it could grow further soon, as Littler could become the youngest player to win the Premier League on multiple occasions.
The world no 2 will enter the play-offs at the summit of the table, and is currently the bookies’ odds-on favourite to retain the title.
If he were to do so, he would join an esteemed group of darts players who have won the league twice or more: Michael van Gerwen (seven times), Phil Taylor (six times) and Gary Anderson (two times).
At the age of just 18, it would make Littler the youngest to do so by a significant margin.
Luke Littler won the Premier League in his debut campaign last year
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The opportunity is just another record that Littler is in line to break, but he seems to take each record and each title in his stride every time.
The Nuke was also recently announced as Luke Humphries’ pairing for the World Cup of Darts, replacing Michael Smith, as England look to retain their title.
Littler and Humphries have enjoyed a special rivalry at the oche of late. The pair have a friendly relationship off stage, but on it they are fierce competitors.
The duo have raised each other’s standards significantly over the past 18 months, and together have claimed over half of the nights in the Premier League this year.
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The bar has been set so high by the duo that it is largely incomparable to other players, who have been simply left behind, and this was typified perfectly in last week’s Premier League quarter-final clash in Aberdeen.
Both players averaged over 110 over the match, with Littler hitting 75 per cent of his doubles and two tonne-plus checkouts - it was a showcase.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Mark Webster described the match as “scary” because the pair are “streets ahead of the rest”, while Wayne Mardle said it was “an absolute joke”.
Since The Nuke’s breakthrough in the 2024 World Championships, he has claimed the World Championship, UK Open, Grand Slam, Bahrain Masters, Poland Masters and World Series Finals winners’ medal - not a bad trophy cabinet for the teenager.
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Luke Littler and Luke Humphries have a special relationship on and off stage
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He currently sits second on the PDC Order of Merit with over £1.3million in career earnings.
The 18-year-old has stormed past legends such as Michael van Gerwen and is now battling it out with Humphries for the world no 1 spot.
In fact, after his defeat against Littler in the final of the World Championship, MVG had high praise for the youngster: “Every 17 years a star gets born and he is one of them.”
The praise came as no surprise, with Littler taking the darting world by storm and shows no sign of letting up.
With another Premier League record in sight, Littler will look to fill any remaining gaps in his cabinet before his attempt at retaining the World Championship title.
