Luke Littler Breaks 11-Year Van Gerwen Record That May Never Be Beaten Again In Grand Slam
Luke Littler has smashed a record that Michael van Gerwen held for 11 years during the Grand Slam of Darts.
Littler defeated Danny Noppert 16-9 in the semi-finals to book a place in the final against Luke Humphries.
The 18-year-old reeled off seven consecutive legs to defeat the Dutchman, who had led 3-2, 6-4 and then 8-7 heading into three of the intervals.
But he could do nothing to stop the Littler onslaught, with 'The Nuke' looking to defend the Grand Slam crown that he won for the first time last year.
In doing so, Littler set another darting record which may never again be beaten.
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He is now the youngest player in the sport's history to become the world number one, overtaking Humphries.
If Littler loses in the final, he would have 1770.5 ranking points to Humphries' 1769, with the two-year ranking system meaning that Humphries' record from the end of 2023 is wiped from the records.
In Littler's case, he has been defending no prize money all season - barring the £2,500 he won at the 2023 UK Open - because he only won his tour card for the beginning of 2024 onwards.
The previous youngest world number one was Van Gerwen, who was 24 years and 251 days old when he ascended to the top of the darting rankings in 2014.
The Dutchman was eliminated by compatriot Noppert at the last 16 stage in Wolverhampton this week, having defeated Beau Greaves and Gary Anderson to top his group.
He is now ranked at number three in the world but is over 900 ranking points behind Humphries in second place ahead of Sunday's final.
Van Gerwen could slide down the rankings next season if he does not improve his form, as the Dutchman will be defending a considerable amount of prize money over the course of 12 months.
For Littler, the 18-year-old will be defending prize money for the first time in his career - but you would not be surprised to see him lose a relatively small amount of points, or even increase them, given his performances across the past two seasons.
Topics: Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Darts
Ryan Smart