17 Nov 2025

Luke Littler set to become youngest world number one at age 18

8:10 am on 17 November 2025
England's Luke Littler celebrates winning the fourth set against Netherlands' Michael van Gerwen during the PDC World Darts Championship final, at Alexandra Palace in London on January 3, 2025. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP)

Luke Littler, during the 2025 World Championships at Alexandra Palace in January. Photo: AFP / BEN STANSALL

Darts world champion Luke Littler is set to become the sport's youngest world number one at 18 after a 16-9 win over Danny Noppert in the semi-finals of the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton.

England's Littler, who became the sport's youngest world champion in January when he was 17, will top the global rankings of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) regardless of the result of the final against Luke Humphries, the current world number one.

"It has not even been two years that I've been on the tour and I'm already world number one. That is job done," Littler told Sky Sports UK.

Michael van Gerwen, who lost to Littler in this year's World Championship final, was previously the youngest world number one in the sport, having topped the PDC world rankings at age 24 in 2014.

- Reuters

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