16-year-old in the final - Darts fairytale ends: World Champion Humphries defeats Littler
Luke Humphries has put an end to Luke Littler 's darts fairytale in London and is world champion for the first time. The future number one defeated the 16-year-old challenger 7:4 in a thrilling final on Wednesday evening and can look forward to prize money of 500,000 pounds (just under 600,000 euros) after the biggest success of his career to date.
Humphries (28 years old) thus prevented Littler from becoming the youngest champion in history and can look forward to the 25-kilogram Sid Waddell Trophy in addition to the hefty cheque and the crown. In recent days, Littler's story has been reminiscent of that of the young Boris Becker, who sensationally won the prestigious tennis tournament at Wimbledon at the age of 17. However, the crowning glory for Littler never came. This was mainly because Humphries held his nerve and managed significantly more shots with 180 points than his opponent.
Although Littler came to the Ally Pally as Junior World Champion, such a run of success, including a place in the final, seemed completely unrealistic beforehand. Littler fueled the hype with victories over former world champion Raymond van Barneveld (4:1) and Rob Cross (6:2). The defeat in the final is now a damper, but Humphries, clearly the best player of 2023, was also the favorite going into the important tournament at Alexandra Palace.
Beckham writes Littler
Littler had never been in danger at the World Cup so far. "Everywhere Luke Littler plays, he delivers," said the super talent confidently about himself. Up until the final, "nothing was difficult" for him. It was a completely different story against Humphries. The hype surrounding the youngster took on gigantic proportions over the past few days and was reminiscent of the farewell to record-breaking world champion Phil Taylor in January 2018.
More and more media came to London and TV ratings in the UK skyrocketed. Experts compared him to the young Lionel Messi. Fans rewrote "Wonderland", otherwise sung after the legend Taylor, to Littler. And soccer icon David Beckham congratulated him personally via a message, as the youngster proudly told Sport1 before the final.
Humphries smiles at the youngster's bravado
In the last World Cup final for 66-year-old cult referee Russ Bray, "The Nuke", as Littler is known, did indeed show nerves - right in the opening phase. The first set was quickly gone. The display prominently showed how the man from near Liverpool took twelve shots without a triple.
Humphries, on the other hand, got off to a flawless start. But the youngster got stronger and drew attention to himself with two strong finishes (142 and 120). In the dynamic match, in which the commercial breaks lasted as long as the sets, the score was 2:2.
The favorite had to smile time and again at his young opponent's enormous coolness. While Humphries came to London as a title contender after winning titles at the World Grand Prix, Grand Slam of Darts and the Players Championship Finals, Littler was considered an outsider at best.
That didn't stop him from putting in a strong performance in front of 3,000 spectators in the biggest match of his young career. Spurred on by the euphoric crowd, the game was close and exciting, with a high pace of play throughout. Bray's grating voice loudly called out his distinctive "Onehundredandeighty". And Humphries turned on the heat after 2:4 and triumphed.
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Luke Littler's darts journey at Alexandra Palace was compared to the tennis success of a young Boris Becker at Wimbledon, both being 17 when they reached their finals. Despite Littler's impressive victories over Raymond van Barneveld and Rob Cross, he eventually fell to Luke Humphries in the final, marking the end of Littler's fairytale run in the sports history of London.
Humphries, who was the favorite going into the tournament, won the final 7:4, securing his first world title and a prize money of 500,000 pounds. The young champion also took home the Sid Waddell Trophy, adding another prestigious title to his darts career.
Soccer legend David Beckham congratulated the 16-year-old Littler before the final, adding to the hype surrounding his success. Despite Littler's strong performance in the final, Humphries proved to be the better player, ultimately prevailing with a flawless start and significant more 180 points than his opponent.
Littler's story had been fuelling the hype leading up to the final, reminiscent of the farewell of darts legend Phil Taylor in January 2018. The media coverage and TV ratings skyrocketed, with experts comparing Littler to the young Lionel Messi.
In the thrilling match at Alexandra Palace, Humphries smiled at his young opponent's bravado. Littler, considered an outsider at best, put in a strong performance in front of 3000 spectators, making the final a close and exciting game. Despite this, it was Humphries who triumphed, sealing his place in the sports history books of darts.
Despite the loss, Luke Littler's performance in the final and throughout the tournament was a testament to his talent and potential in the world of darts, and he is sure to be a force to be reckoned with in the years to come.
Source: www.stern.de
