Teenage sensation Luke Littler took the darts world by storm this week becoming the youngest player to ever reach the last-16 of the PDC World Darts Championship.
The 16-year-old star, from Runcorn, Cheshire, has been steadily climbing the ranks since he made his stunning debut victory over Christian Kist at Alexandra Palace on December 20.
‘Luke the Nuke’ has continued to wow audiences, beating Canada’s Matt Campbell on Wednesday night securing himself a minimum cash prize of £35,000.
Ignoring the chants of ‘you’ve got school in the morning’, the star made an impressive 4-1 win against his opponent leading many to fawn over his ‘generational’ talent while others were shocked by his age.
Luke, who was pictured just days ago unwrapping Christmas presents under the tree at his family home, said his social media has been ‘popping off’ since the win with thousands of people following him.
The youngster, who picked up his first set of magnetic darts when he was still in nappies, will take on either Raymond van Barneveld or Jim Williams in the next round.
His success has created a new legion of darts fans and shone a spotlight on the sport – with millions tuning to watch as the drama unfolds at Ally Pally and getting to know the players.
Can YOU guess the ages of the other dart champions?
Luke Littler, 16, (pictured on Wednesday) has been taking the darting world by storm since his stunning debut at Alexandra Palace before Christmas.
Stephen Bunting
Stephen Bunting – known as ‘the bullet – joined the PDC in 2014 after winning the Lakeside Championship.
He has since enjoyed a series of successes including becoming a two-time World Masters winner.
Bunting made his Premier League debut in 2015 after he reached the quarter finals of the PDC World Championship at Alexander Palace.
The English player has since been a semi-finalist in the UK Open and World Gran Prix, as well as reaching the World Championship in 2021.
Bunting, whose walk-on music is Surfin’ Bird by The Trashman, is ranked number 18 in the world and has won three non-televised PDC titles.
English player Stephen Bunting celebrates winning his match against Florian Hempel at the tournament last night
Michael van Gerwen
Like Luke Littler, Dutchman Michael van Gerwan was also a teenage star, breaking in to win the World Masters in 2006.
While it took him another six years to pick up another televised title, which he gained at the World Grand Prix in 2012, he has since seen a long run of success.
He was named World Champion in 2014, 2017 and 2019 during which he clung onto an eight-year run as world number one and amassed 140 PDC titles in the process.
To this day he remains the only player to have completed a full set of televised PDC titles which he won in October 2019 when he won the Champions League in Leicester.
Van Gerwen, whose walk-on music is Seven Nation Army by White Stripes, is currently ranked at number two.
Throughout his career to date, he has won 65 televised titles, 88 non-televised PDC titles and 10 televised Nine-Dart Finishes.
Dutchman Michael van Gerwan (pictured celebrating his win against Richard Veenstra at the PDC Championship on Wednesday) was also a teenage sensation when he broke into the world of darts
Chris Dobey
Chris Dobey – nicknamed ‘Hollywood’ – joined the PDC at the beginning of 2023 when he reached the quarter-finals of the World Championships.
He went on to secure the PDC World Masters before being crowned the new World Champion.
As a result Dobey, whose walk-on song is Ant & Dec’s Let’s Get Ready to Rumble, was chosen for the Premier League where he competed against seven of the best players in the world.
He currently sits at number 17 in the world rankings, having won one televised title and two non-televised PDC titles.
Chris Dobey (pictured on Thursday at the PDC tournament) – nicknamed ‘Hollywood’ – joined the PDC at the beginning of 2023
Luke Humphries
Luke Humphries is currently ranked number three in the world and is seen as one the ‘most exciting stars’ in the sport, according to the PDC.
The player made won his first PDF Premier title earlier this year at the 2023 World Grand Prix.
He continued his winning streak at the Grand Slam of Darts and Players Championship a few weeks later.
To date he has had four televised titles and eight non-televised PDC titles.
Humphries’, who walks out to Cake by the Ocean by DNC, most recent win was against van Gerwen when he beat the renowned player 11-9 at the Players Championship Finals last month.
Luke Humphries (pictured yesterday following his match against Ricardo Pietreczko) is currently ranked number three in the world
Scott Williams
Scott Williams won the Challenge Tour titles when the darting season opened last year.
In 2022 he made his first Televised tournament appearance at a Grand Slam as well as playing at Alexandra Palace, reaching the World Championships of the second round.
On Wednesday he won 4-3 against Germany’s Martin Schindler at the PDC World Darts Championship.
But the Englishman sparked controversy when he appeared to make reference to ‘winning two World Wars and one World Cup’.
The darts player was forced to ‘apologise profusely’ for his comment on stage.
‘In regards to what I said on stage earlier, it was a bit stupid! Love the people, the food and the venues!’ Williams wrote.
Scott Williams (pictured on Wednesday at the PDC tournament) won the Challenge Tour titles when the darting season opened last year
Answers:
Stephen Bunting: 38
Michael van Gerwen: 34
Chris Dobey: 33
Luke Humprhies: 28
Scott Williams: 33