LUKE LITTLER has joined an exclusive club of darts stars to mark out his incredible first year in the sport.
The Nuke exploded onto the scene as a 16-year-old at the last world championships.
RexLuke Littler has joined an elite club of darts stars by winning 10 titles in a year[/caption]
The list includes Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen and Peter WrightRex
One year on he has continued to make headlines by landing titles and moving up in the world rankings before he marks his return to Ally Pally.
The teen has become a MILLIONAIRE through tournament prize money after winning the Grand Slam of Darts title on Sunday.
Littler, 17, was on fire throughout the tournament, topping his group before blitzing Martin Lukeman with 15 legs in succession to win 16-3 in the final on his debut in Wolverhampton.
It marked his first major title but also saw Littler join some esteemed company.
He has now joined an elite club with only Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen and Peter Wright in having won ten titles in a PDC calendar year.
Littler turned professional in January and, prior to the Slam, his fairytale run had accumulated £405,000 including reaching the World Championship final with £200k winnings, and becoming the youngest-ever Premier League champ in May, earning him another £315,000.
Plus playing on the World Series of Darts tour, with trips to New York, New Zealand and Australia, saw him pocket £150,000.
He pocketed another £150,000 as he won the Grand Slam, all while landing a tournament record of 60 180s.
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This has seen him rise from No.164 in the world rankings all the way up to No.5.
On his win, Littler said: “I’m just so glad to win it. I’ve been playing well all week long. But it’s paid off.
“I’ve always got to have the scoring power with me. I can’t afford to drop off in any leg. I had a slow start but I kicked on from there.
“I knew coming into the tournament if I did get my hands on the trophy I’d be up to No.5 in the world.
“But No.5 in the space of 12 months.
“There’s another two more rankings tournaments to come.
“I hope I can go higher from five.”
Next up on the darts calendar is The Players Championship Finals starting on November 22 and ending on November 24.
The winner will take home a tidy £120,000, with the runner-up earning £60,000.
The season then concludes with the world championships starting on December 15 and running through to January 3.
The winner here will take home £500,000, and Littler will be looking to add his name to the list after being beaten in the final by world No.1 Luke Humphries last year.
Littler could, in theory, catch Rob Cross to be No.4 in the world before the World Championship.
Winning the Players Championship would put him on £678,500, but anything less would not be quite enough to move up the rankings again.
In a twist of fate, the pair actually play one another in the first round of the event, with Littler ranked No.8 in the Players Championships Order of Merit and Cross at No.57.
List of all-time Darts World Champions
BELOW is a list of Darts world champions by year.
The list does not include winners from the pre-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) era or BDO world champions.
That means Raymond van Barneveld, for example, is only listed once – Barney also won four BDO titles – and none of Eric Bristow’s five BDO titles are included.
1994 – Dennis Priestley
1995 – Phil Taylor
1996 – Phil Taylor (2)
1997 – Phil Taylor (3)
1998 – Phil Taylor (4)
1999 – Phil Taylor (5)
2000 – Phil Taylor (6)
2001 – Phil Taylor (7)
2002 – Phil Taylor (8)
2003 – John Part
2004 – Phil Taylor (9)
2005 – Phil Taylor (10)
2006 – Phil Taylor (11)
2007 – Raymond van Barneveld
2008 – John Part (2)
2009 – Phil Taylor (12)
2010 – Phil Taylor (13)
2011 – Adrian Lewis
2012 – Adrian Lewis (2)
2013 – Phil Taylor (14)
2014 – Michael van Gerwen
2015 – Gary Anderson
2016 – Gary Anderson (2)
2017 – Michael van Gerwen (2)
2018 – Rob Cross
2019 – Michael van Gerwen (3)
2020 – Peter Wright
2021 – Gerwyn Price
2022 – Peter Wright (2)
2023 – Michael Smith
2024 – Luke Humphries
Most World Titles
14 – Phil Taylor
3 – Michael van Gerwen
2 – John Part, Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright
1 – Dennis Priestley, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Luke Humphries
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