Luke Littler Praised for the First Thing He Said After Winning World Title

Luke Littler impressed darts fans during his interview immediately after winning the 2026 PDC World Darts Championship.

After weeks of action in the 2026 PDC World Darts Championship, Littler proved that he is still the best darts player in the world as he comfortably beat Gian van Veen in the final.

Despite losing the opening set and falling behind 1-0 behind, the Englishman showed true class as he went on to win the next seven sets in a row, therefore winning the match 7-1.

It means that Littler is now only the fourth player ever to win back-to-back PDC World Darts Championship titles and the first to do so since Gary Anderson a decade ago.

However, rather than focusing on himself, Littler has been praised for first taking a moment to speak about others in his victory interview,

Littler is now a back to back champion. (Image: Warren Little/Getty Images)

Ahead of the World Championship this year, it was confirmed that both iconic darts commentator John McDonald and legendary referee George Noble would be retiring at the end of the competition.

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And after briefly noting how it felt to win the championship again, Littler decided to thank the pair for all they've done for the sport and congratulate them on retiring.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the win, he said: "It feels amazing, but first of all I've got to say thank you to John McDonald and George Noble, what a fantastic career they've had.

"In my first year Russ Bray retired and now these two legends are going and I think I'm a bit late to the party!"

Littler then paid tribute to Latif "Latz" Ayodele and Sina Ghami, who lost their lives in a tragic car crash involving British heavyweight boxing legend Anthony Joshua.

He added: "I've been wanting to say this. Everybody knows what happened with Anthony Joshua and his team, rest in peace to his friends."

The 18-year-old then reference Joshua's famous post-match victory speech after he reclaimed his unified heavyweight belts with a rematch win over former rival Andy Ruiz Jr in December 2019.

"But just as AJ said, the first time was so nice, I had to do it twice!" Littler said.