Luke Humphries beats 16-year-old Luke Littler in World Darts Championship final

Luke Littler, the 16-year-old sensation, has suffered a heartbreaking defeat in this year's PDC World Darts Championship final against Luke Humphries.

The teenager, who previously earned an estimated £2,500 ahead of this winter's competition, would have secured a £500,000 payday with victory over the world number one.

But after putting up a valiant fight, Littler suffered a very respectable 7-4 defeat to the ultra-consistent Humphries.

Still, Littler will walk away with a life-changing £200,000 after beating Christian Kist, Andrew Gilding, Matt Campbell, Raymond van Barneveld, Brendan Dolan and Rob Cross on his way to Wednesday's final.

In fact, he has already been offered a job by tour operator company On The Beach Group, who penned a letter to Littler ahead of tonight's showpiece event.

Humphries, meanwhile, has added to his growing trophy cabinet. He claimed his second major title of the year by beating Rob Cross at the Grand Slam of Darts final in November.

The 28-year-old was full of praise for his opponent ahead of Wednesday's final.

“The way he’s played, I’ve seen it many times,” Humphries said. “When you come up on this stage it can be a lot tougher but he’s just proved he’s got a lot of bottle.

"Nothing is going to faze him. If he plays like he did tonight, tomorrow is not going to faze him at all, so I will probably have to play the game of my life."

LUKE HUMPHRIES IS WORLD CHAMPION! 🏆

Darting destiny fulfilled.

The world number one gets over the line against teenage sensation Luke Littler in a thrilling final! pic.twitter.com/IP6pPaWndm

— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) January 3, 2024

Humphries added: “I will probably have to play like that again to stand a chance of beating him. I know what’s in front of me and what the task is.

"I’ve got to play at my best tomorrow but I’m hoping I make him play his best as well and we give the fans hopefully one of the best world finals we have ever seen.”