Luke Littler's fairy tale ends, the 16 year old loses the final of the World Darts Championship against Luke Humphries, who triumphs 7-4 in the bedlam of Alexandra Palace in London. Littler has to settle for second place, but he remains the face of the Championships and is now one of the symbols of the magical world of 'darts', which drives the United Kingdom and beyond crazy.
The English boy, who will turn 17 in a couple of weeks and to be honest appears much 'older' for his age, is close to rewriting the history of the competition and becoming the youngest champion in the history of the World Darts Championship. The dream of Luke the Nuke – the atomic bomb – fades into extremity and the world record for precociousness remains with the Dutchman Michael van Gerwen, world champion in 2014 at 24 years old. Littler, who arrived at the world championship tournament as number 164 in the Professional Darts Association ranking, consoled himself with a jump in the rankings – among the top 32 in the ranking – and with a check for 200 thousand pounds. If he had won, he would have half a million pounds, around 580,000 euros.
The boy, even without a world title, confirms himself as predestined. In the United Kingdom he is an idol, like the Premier League footballers, and his life no longer has any secrets. Son of a taxi driver and a shop assistant, he began to become familiar with targets at the age of 18 months: he didn't throw darts, in truth, but objects at a magnetic board. Already in those moments, legend has it, it was clear that the boy had particular qualities. At 4 years old the first throws, even if from a short distance. At the age of 7-8, however, he started to get serious. At 12 he was competing in youth competitions with older opponents. A script destined to become habitual, as confirmed by the show in recent days. In the world tournament he eliminated the big names on the circuit with the coolness of a veteran. In the round of 16 he defeated Raymond van Barneweld, a darts legend with 5 World Championships under his belt. In the quarterfinals he got the better of Northern Ireland's Brendan Dolan. In the semi-final, the exploit against Rob Cross, world champion in 2018. In the final, only the last masterpiece was missing.
#Littler #dream #ends #final #World #Darts #Championship
